


Voltron: Dark Universe

by Eban98



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dark Character, Feelings, Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2019-10-05 17:29:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 36,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17329346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eban98/pseuds/Eban98
Summary: Prior to the events of the fourth season, the Paladins of Voltron face a new menace, a dark creature made of Pure Quintessence with the capability of destroying all living beings. Keith doesn't know it, but he is the only one who can stop that creature, and save Lance's life before it's too late.





	1. Final Duel. Part One

**Chapter 1:**

**“Final Duel. Part One”**

 

He opened his eyes. He was tired and hurt, physically and mentally worn out. But he couldn’t stop. Not now.

Keith gathered strength again and stood up. He held up from the dark rock wall of the strange fortress. In his right hand he held his sword firmly. He wiped the dirt and blood from his face and looked at his opponent.

He was injured too, and that young man was breathing heavily, he seemed to have no more strength, and still he was standing, staring at him wishing to kill him. He had no Bayard, however, had been able to create a sword with that dangerous dark essence. Then they looked at each other.

It was still hard to Keith, after all, there could be only one victor in that battle… but it wasn’t a Galra, or a robot; right in front of Keith, a few meters away, it was Lance. How could he kill him? «No, I have to do it» Keith said to himself, otherwise Lance would kill him, and everything would’ve been in vain. The entire Universe would be consumed by darkness.

Lance smiled "you gave up already?"

Keith stared at his eyes, even at that far he could see that intense purple glow. He could not hesitate now. He had to win.

"And you?" Keith said. And though Lance lowered his voice, he could hear him.

"Just beginning."

Then Lance stretched out his other arm, and so a second sword emerged. «Great» Keith thought. There was no time to think. Keith was ready, and apparently that Lance too. Keith was prepared. Lance leaned forward and smiled mischievously. And Lance ran toward him. Just before the swords could seriously injure him, Keith interposed his own sword.

The duel had just begun. Keith fought hard to defend himself against Lance's attacks. Being so close, Lance was very agile. Lance nearly cut off Keith's face, but he dropped back, turned, and stood up again and threw himself at him.

Keith pushed and struck with such force one of Lance's swords, which fell to the ground and disappeared. But the brown-haired young man was quick, and attacked with his other weapon. Keith received a cut in the back, which was not serious thanks to his armor. But the suit was breaking. Swords struck again, and again, and again. Until Lance jumped, he spun around and kicked Keith toward the wall.

When Keith regained his balance, Lance was no longer in front of him. He looked to his left, just to see it coming and receive a poke that threw him to the ground again. Keith lost his Bayard. He tried to get up but failed. Lance approached, bent down and took Keith by the neck. He held him tightly and lifted him up.

Keith was suffocating, and he tried to free himself, but Lance was very strong. Keith discovered that his legs were free, and he did the only thing he could think of. «I hope it works» he told himself. As he could, he took a thrust in his legs, and kicked Lance in the crotch.

It worked. Lance responded with a cry of pain, and released Keith to cover himself. Keith managed to fall to his feet, and took advantage of that moment to give Lance a knee in the ribs. When he bent down, he punched him in the face. But when he released another blow, Lance held his fist, and positioned himself just behind him, bending over. Keith let out a cry of pain, and then Lance kicked him in the back, which again hurled him toward the wall.

Keith fell to the floor. Lance took a step toward him, but his legs faltered and he dropped to his knees; he could see Keith trying to get up again. Then Lance spoke, but now there were two voices at once: that of Lance, a human adolescent, and a sinister, very grave, raspy and bestial.

"Why do you keep fighting? Understand that you have already lost!"

Keith rose to his feet again. He splat blood before he spoke.

"I have not lost yet" his voice was weak, but he managed to shout "I know Lance is still there, and I’ll not give up while he’s alive! I will not give up, as long as your existence continues to endanger the Universe!"

Though Lance looked at him furiously, tears welled in his eyes. then the strange cave of rock trembled.

"As long as I live" Keith said "I will not stop.

That Lance, crying, smiled mischievously.

"That can be fixed."

Lance took his dark sword from the ground and threw himself at Keith. Just before impact, Lance regained control of his body, only to be able to scream.

"No, Keith!"

But it was too late.

...


	2. The Paladins of Voltron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We take a look at the current situation of the Paladins, several weeks before the previous chapter.

**Chapter 2:**  
**“The Paladins of Voltron”**

A Galra ship was flying over a village, where each and every one of the buildings had been built in blue rock at the foot of a mountain. There were, on each wall, large floating crystals that emanated the light that illuminated the night. In a corner a large part of the population was crowded, surrounded by Galra soldiers who were pointing their weapons at them. The commander of the Galra was slightly taller and stronger than the rest of the soldiers.

“It's your last chance! Give us the crystals, or you will be destroyed.”

The leader of the natives, beings with blue eyes, with four extremities and pointed ears, was firm, determined and without fear before the Galra.  
“We're not going to give you anything! The agreement with the Galra was over at the time that Voltron beat Zarkon. And at the moment when Lotor invaded our caves. Do you want to kill us? Go ahead, without us, you will not have more.”

“There are always other ways.” He assured him. The commander pointed his gun directly at the leader's forehead.

The leader looked at his people, they were all equally determined.

“So be it.” And then he let his guard down. The Galra Soldiers prepared to fire.

Suddenly they heard a shout above them, all looked up. A thin figure fell from the sky. He had a weapon with which he started firing at the Galra.

“Return the fire!” Commanded the commander.

Just before falling, the figure activated thrusters on his back, with which he propelled himself directly towards the commander. A young man in a blue and white suit struck with Commander Galra, throwing him several meters away before falling over. It was Lance, Voltron's Blue Paladin. The soldiers pointed at him, but more shots fell from the same direction, it was Hunk, the Yellow Paladin, who fired frantically as he fell into battle. Pidge and Allura, the Green and Red Paladins, although the princess wore pink, used their whips to disarm the soldiers. And finally, Keith, the Paladin of the Black Lion, began to eliminate the robots with his sword.

The commander got up, activated a communicator and sent a warning message to his ship, warning that Voltron had located them, and they had to counterattack. But the Castle of the Lions had already begun to shoot the ship. Lance stood in front of the commander, aiming his Bayard.

“I think it's over. You lost.” He said sure of himself.

“I think you too.”

Lance looked at him confused, then discovered a small Galra ship flying in his direction. The ship fired at Lance, who quickly activated his shield, but the impact sent him flying.

“Lance!” Keith shouted when he saw him. He got rid of his enemy, and rushed to catch up with his companion.

The commander took advantage of that moment and ran towards his fleet. One of the ships allowed the boarding, and the fleet went to sky. One last shot of the Castle, and the Galra Ship was destroyed. The remnants of the fleet fled off the planet. The castle now fired at the remains of the ship that could fall on the village. The villagers hailed the victory.  
Keith caught up with Lance, who lay on the ground without moving. Keith leaned over and picked Lance up, holding his back.

“Are you okay?” Lance opened his eyes and saw him. He gave him a smile, and took off his helmet.

“I'm fine.” Lance stood up. “It wasn’t bad, huh?”

Lance was pleased, he felt good because they had won, but Keith looked at him harshly. Before he could say anything, the villagers approached them and hailed their victory. The Paladins gathered, took off their helmets, and the leader of the village advanced towards them. This time, he spoke more calmly.

“We are grateful Paladins. If it had not been for his arrival, it would have been our end.”

“It was nothing, we're happy to help.” Hunk said.

“Let us thank you.”

“Please,” Allura said “it's not necessary.”

“It would be a disgrace to us if you did not accept our gift. Please follow me.”

The Paladins followed the leader, and the people followed them, thanking their actions, flattering them. The leader led them through the village, to a cave, on whose walls there were bright crystals. He guided them through the interior, through corridors that grew larger and larger, until they stopped in a large central chamber, and in the center there was a great white crystal shining. Upon entering, the Paladins felt a great calm in the environment, suddenly the fatigue had disappeared. And the feeling increased with each step they took towards the crystals.

“What is that?” Asked Pidge, interested in extracting a sample of that crystal.

“This is solid Quintessence.”

“What? But,” Allura approached the crystal “I thought that the Quintessence could only be treated as a substance.”

“Usually yes,” the leader said, “but in the end it's a fuel, and all material is malleable. We are one of the few species with the ability to manipulate Quintessence. Fortunately, we live in one of the few planets that concentrates large amounts of Quintessence, and for centuries we have dedicated ourselves to treating the substance.”

“That means this is a mine.” Allura said. “You must have enough crystals.”

“Unfortunately not, the solidification process of Quintessence, done correctly, takes us a lot of time. In the course of two years, we are only able to produce three crystals, and this is the last one.”

“If this is the last thing you have left” Keith asked “why are you giving it to us?”

“If you mean how we are going to sustain, you should not worry about that Paladin, we do not depend only on Quintessence to survive. But if you mean the gesture, and I speak for all of us” the leader moved his arms, and embraced his people. “It's more a compensation. For centuries, we produced Quintessence crystals only for the Galra Empire. Zarkon had promised us security, resources and technology, in exchange for the crystals. Over the centuries, that offer expired, and we became slaves of the Galra. And then, when Voltron emerged, our hopes were reborn. We understood that we could be free when Voltron defeated Zarkon, and our alliance ended until a few days ago, when Prince Lotor stole our crystals. This is our gift to Voltron.”

The leader, and his people, moved away from the crystal, knelt and put their hands on the ground. A brightness emanated from their hands, and it moved across the floor to the crystal. This one shone, and without noise, and slowly, the great crystal separated in five fragments, that levitated to the hands of each Paladin.

Allura was moved. “I do not know how to thank you.”

“Just use the crystals wisely, and please consider us allies of Voltron.” The leader bowed.

Keith looked at the crystal in his hands, it was very light, for the size it had, a bit larger than a watermelon. Then he heard laughter behind him. He turned, and saw Lance talking to three of the natives. They laughed, and then Lance took his cell phone and took a selfie with them. Then he showed it to them and he continued talking. He was very happy, but Keith was again upset.

“Paladins! Let’s go!” He said suddenly.

Keith said goodbye quickly, and was the first to leave the cave. Then followed Pidge and Kunk, after more farewells, Allura, and finally Lance.  
…

Shiro and Coran were in the Lions' hangar. Allura was the first to go down, told them what happened with the natives, and handed the crystal to Coran. He looked at it surprised.

“Princess, do you have any idea what we could do with this?”

“Not exactly,” she said with a smile “but I'm sure you and Pidge can find it out.”

“Immediately!” Said Pidge, at that moment she had already come down from her Lion, and was holding her crystal with great emotion. Coran and Pidge smiled and ran to the lab. Hunk and Lance approached.

“Shiro, I think you should keep this,” Hunk said, offering him the crystal.

“Oh, I cannot accept it, that was a gift for you.”

“Well, in that case I ask you to keep it for me.” Hunk offered it again. This time Shiro accepted it. Then Lance came up.

“After all, what can I do with this? Maybe I can make improvements to Red! What if we change the color?”

“Lance!” Keith shouted. Lance sighed annoyed. Then he turned around. Keith was right in front of him. “We need to talk.”

“Oh, about what?” Lance's smile disappeared.

“You disobeyed me.”

“Again with that? Don’t you want to punish me already?”

“Do you think this is a children's game?” Keith raised his voice. Lance the same.

“Of course not! You are the one who wants to be an explorer! Giving orders and orders all the time.”

“I'm trying to be a leader!”

“More like a boss!”

“If you weren’t so stubborn maybe it would not be so--!”

“And if you were not--!”

The discussion intensified. Each time, the boys raised their voices more, and Shiro believed that they would even be able to start a fight. The boys shouted more and more and he decided to interfere.

“You two, enough! Don’t you get tired of arguing? How many fights have you had in the last weeks? I remind you that it's about working together, not fighting each other.”

Lance turned around “Tell that to your star player.” And start walking.

Keith receives the comment, and only growls. Then he drops his Quintessence crystal to the ground. Despite not being heavy, the crystal resonates strongly in the ground. Lance turned around quickly.

“I don’t need this to be better.” And with that, Keith retreated at quick step.

Lance received the comment. He tried to argue, but he didn’t know what to say. He only saw Keith leave.

“Oh yeah? Well, me neither!” Lance shouted at him, and threw his own crystal at Keith, but Keith was gone. Lance was upset.

Finally, only Hunk, Shiro and Allura remained in the hangar, the three of them saw that the crystals of Keith and Lance lost some of their brightness.

“Why they don’t stop fighting?” Allura said, picking up Keith's crystal.

Hunk sighed. “I wish they would stop being like that. But every day is worse.”

“If they continue like this, it will soon be impossible for us to form Voltron. We cannot allow that.”

“You're right,” Shiro said, “Hunk, if you could talk to Lance? And I talk to Keith.”

“If you want. But first, we must save these crystals.”


	3. Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Hunk try to find out what's wrong between Keith and Lance.

**Chapter 3:**

**"Feelings"**

 

Keith was in the training room, fighting with robots. He was distracted. One of the robots hit him in the stomach, and Keith responded with anger.

...

Lance was in his room, lying in bed with his eyes closed and headphones on. The door of his room opened, and Lance saw Hunk. He sat on the bed when Hunk entered. He next to him.

...

Keith finished with the last robot. He fought hard, so he was sweating and breathing hard. He wiped sweat when he turned and saw Shiro. Keith saved his Bayard, went to the wall and sat with his back leaning. Shiro sat next to him.

...

“You wanna talk buddy?”

“Talk about what? Shiro sent you, right?”

“Um, no”. Hunk lied.

...

“I’m not here to claim you, or blame you,” said Shiro, “I'm here just to listen.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“Keith ... you know what I mean.”

There was silence.

“What happened today?”

“The usual.” Keith said bitterly.

...

“Keith is just giving orders, but he doesn’t stop to listen.” Lance waved his arms. “You saw it today, if we should’ve waited as he said, the Galra might had destroyed with the natives.”

“Well, I don’t know about good or bad decisions, but he's the leader now, we should listen to him.”

“I know! But you can also make a choice, right Hunk? I did, I did what I thought was better.

...

“I know we won this time, but what if it hadn’t been like that?” Keith looked at Shiro “What if at the end there were more Galra soldiers? What would we have done?”

...

“We would have solved it as always. But Keith doesn’t trust me.”

“Lance, of course he does.”

...

“He doesn’t listen to me. He believes that I only want to bother him, but I only look for the best for the team.”

...

“The best for the team? You mean the best for him.” Said Lance. “He thinks he knows everything.”

...

“I am not the best! Okay? I do what I can, but Lance does not help me!” Keith sighed. “If he just knew that I care about him.”

“Have you told him?” Shiro said after a few seconds.

...

“Tell Keith that I care about him? Hunk, of course not!”

“Why not? If the problem here is that he doesn’t know what you think, it would be better to tell him yourself, right?”

...

“I couldn’t.” Keith looked down.

“What’s the problem? Do you think a leader should always be unconcerned and unfeeling? It’s not like that. It is normal to worry about others. Especially if you love them. The problem is that you don’t express your feelings.”

Keith said nothing.

...

“Don’t you think that things would be easier?”

“No dude, I think not.”

“Lance... You want me to do it for you?”

“What? No! I just-”

Lance knew he was right. Maybe Keith was not as hard as Lance thought, maybe if they just talked.

...

“At least, try it. Perhaps, you’ll even get surprised.”

Keith looked up.

“I’m with you.” He put his hand on his shoulder.

Keith smiled. “Thank’s, Shiro.”

...

 

The Galra commander, who had survived the last attack from Voltron, was on the floor, screaming and twisting in pain, while Haggar, the witch, was electrocuting him. Around him were his surviving soldiers, but they were only watching.

“You let Voltron to take advantage of us.”

“AAAAAHHHHH!” Shouted the commander, until Haggar let him go. The commander took a deep breath before getting up, unwilling to fall. “We had... no chance! ...But I will get back that crystal.”

Haggar looked at him for a moment. The commander knew Haggar was dangerous, she had acquired more power, now that Zarkon was recovering. She was capable of anything. The commander expected her to order execution. But her answer surprised him.

“...No, Commander Kyrek.”

“Wh-what?”

“We'll leave that crystal with Voltron. Although they discover how to use it, we took the lead by far. Besides,” Haggar turned, “there is another crystal.” Haggar glanced sideways. “Prepare your fleet commander! You will soon leave again, and this time, arrive before Lotor.

“Vrepit Sa!” He said placing his fist on his chest.


	4. Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a while, the Paladins finally make things better, just at the time when Kyrek, the Galra Commander, finds a terrible treasure.

**Chapter 4:**

**“Team”**

Since Shiro had returned, Keith wanted him to be the team leader again. But neither Shiro nor the Black Lion let this to happen. Keith still had his doubts, but Shiro trusted him a lot, and he made it clear several times. In the end, Keith promised to be the leader, and Black Paladin, that Shiro expected from him. But since then, things between Keith and Lance became difficult. Keith and Lance seemed to endure much less than when they barely knew each other: when going on missions, Lance used to question all of Keith’s decisions, annoying him, and making him doubt about his leadership abilities. And every action that Lance did with the Red Lion was a matter of discussion with Keith, Lance always felt that Keith wanted to control him. Although the stopped arguing to form Voltron when necessary, always returning to the castle they started again.

 

After the last battle, when the Paladins discovered the Quintessence Crystals, Shiro talked with Keith, and Hunk with Lance. Allura expected the Paladins to talk to each other and reconcile, in fact, since then, Keith and Lance stopped fighting, arguing and even talking. They didn’t seem to be upset anymore, but if they met each other in the hallway, they only looked away and continued with their own way. At lunch, they could talk to the others, but among themselves they barely shared a few words. In battle, Keith told him what to do, Lance nodded, maybe they cover their backs, they formed Voltron… everything was almost normal, but they didn’t talk to each other anymore. And in the end, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, Shiro and Coran were the worried ones.

 

Allura’s main concern was that if the two of them continued ignoring and not trusting each other, they would be unable to form Voltron, something unthinkable, due to the recent Galra activity, the absence of Lotor, and the impact Voltron was causing in the Universe. The five members of the team met several times in the main hall, without Keith and Lance, to solve the situation. They started with small actions: for example, Hunk proposed giving each one a gift, and Pidge thought about forcing them to work in pairs in the training in the Castle. The result was the same, there was a serious misunderstanding with the gifts, and they competed with each other in the training in pairs.

 

Later, Hunk wanted to pretend to be a gang of space pirates who kidnap on of the two boys, so the other had to rescue him. Although Coran loved the idea and began planning the costumes, scenarios and dialogues, Shiro knew that none of those things would work. What they needed was for the Paladins to speak to each other.

 

Keith was walking down the hall, when he turned the corner he came across Shiro.

“Shiro!” He exclaimed surprised “here you are, I was looking for you.”

“Reall? I was looking for you too. I need to talk to you.”

Keith raised an eyebrow “I was going to say the same.”

Shiro crossed his arms “Keith, I need you to settle things with Lance.”

Keith’s smile disappeared. He even looked down “I do not—”

“Keith, as a leader, it is your duty to make the members of your team be well among them. And as a leader, you must make sure they trust you, or at least know why they don’t” Shiro stopped for a few seconds “and as a friend I’m worried about you two. We all are.”

Keith looked up, in his eyes Shiro saw confusion, grief, but also distress, regret. Keith knew that Shiro was right. Keith had been dealing with the problem as best he knew, avoiding it, but that didn’t work anymore. He had to change.

“All right” he said at last “I’ll go talk to Lance, if that’s what you want.”

“If that’s what you want” Shiro put his hand on Keith’s shoulder, and Keith returned the gesture. Then Keith went to Lance’s room. “Hey, Keith! You didn’t say you wanted to talk to me?”

“Um, it’s not the moment” and then he left. Inside, Lance seemed to be singing, maybe he was wearing headphones. But nothing was clear in Keith’s mind

…

 

Keith had been standing in front of Lance’s door for three minutes. Inside, Lance seemed to be singing, maybe he was wearing his headphones. But nothing was clear in Keith’s mind “what am I going to tell him? Hey Lance, I’m here so you can stop ignoring me! That sounds ridiculous… Lance, have you ever thought about—? That’s pathetic.” Keith didn’t know what to say, because he wasn’t even sure what he was doing. Finally, he took courage, and air, and knocked on the door three times. There was no response, and Lance was still singing, so Keith knocked harder. Finally, the door opened.

“Yeah?” Lance took off one of his headphones ans smiled, until he saw Keith “Oh, it’s you.” Lance was bewildered, and Keith seemed embarrassed.

“May I come in?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Lance moved from the door, he was without his shoes and without his jacket. Keith entered the room in silence and with his eyes down, but when he looked up he was impressed. “Wow! You did this?”

The lights in the room were off, but there were blue light bulbs hanging on the ceiling. The wall in the background had painted the image of the Blue Lion, but the wall next to it had what seemed to be a cloud, and raindrops on a lake.

“You mean the painting?” Lance put his hands on his hips “pfft, it’s not the beag deal. The truth is that I don’t know how to paint. Although I did know how to set the lights well.”

“Why did you do this?”

“Actually, I don’t know. Just wanted to. I think, to feel more comfortable, why? Do you like it? If that’s the case, we could do something like that to your empty cubicle… if you want to.” Lance became discouraged again. He sat on his bed, raised his feet and crossed his legs “you want to sit down?”

Keith approached the bed and sat next to Lance. But they didn’t speak. The minutes went by again and the boys didn’t say a single word. Keith started seeing Lance’s room, there was some clothes in the floor, a plate of food; in front of him was a surface, like a small table, where Lance had his Bayard, the music player with his headphones, and a peculiar spherical rock with spikes around it. Keith looked at it with interest, and smiled. “I can’t believe you still keep that.”

“Huh?” Lance looked at the rock “Oh, you mean that.” He smiled “how could I get rid of it? It’s my souvenir.”

“Your souvenir? Rather, your death sentence.”

“Come on! Admit it was fun. That day you did the best tricks with the Red Lion.”

“That day we almost lost you and the Blue Lion, all because you wanted to chase those Galra ships to the asteroid field.”

“I know, I know! But that day I also saved your life, what would you have done without the good Lance, when that bomb detonated right in front of you?”

“I wouldn’t have to endure your bad jokes anymore.”

“Hey! They aren’t bad, you’re just a bitter, its different.” And so, suddenly they were chatting and laughing. Until Lance saw the rock again. “That day, you also told me to stop being useless to the team.” Keith was surprised, they boys looked at each other “do you really think I’m useless?”

“No!” Keith said immediately “It’s, I just—” Keith growled his temples in frustration “Why is it so hard?” Several seconds passed in silence again, until Lance spoke again.

“What happened to us Keith? I mean, we haven’t been the best friends, but, I was starting to have fun with you. It was fun to make fun of you, and it was great to fight by your side, but now, we barely talk to each other.”

“I know. I should’ve never been the leader. I am the worst.”

“That’s not true, do you think that’s the reason? You just need to trust in yourself. Just have faith that you can do it.”

In his mind, Keith was processing what he was trying to say. Maybe Lance was right, it wasn’t because of Keith’s leadership skills, or maybe it was. Then Keith remembered the talk he had with Shiro some time ago, maybe it was time to talk about his concern about Lance’s well-being. But when he was about to speak, Allura called the Paladins by the Castle’s alarm. Lance began to put on his shoes. “You know? If you’re so tired of being the leader, you can give me the job” said Lance mockingly.

“What? To you? I’d never let you be the leader!” Keith got up, and Lance put on his jacket.

“Too late” he exclaimed, as vain as usual “the first one to reach the bridge pilots the Black Lion!”

“No way!” Keith bet. And then they both hurried out of the room.

…

 

Keith and Lance came in laughing, but they focused on the asteroid shield they were flying through. All the pieces of space rock formed together a kind of giant sphere, but the castle could cross them easily. “What’s wrong Allura?” Lance asked.

“Enemy ships just ahead” She answered. Ahead, in the center of that sphere made of rocks, there was a large loose surface. It was the largest piece of rock, and it wasn’t a rock, it seemed to be the remains of some planetoid, but broken, as if something had exploded from within. And right there were two Galra cruisers.

“What could those cruisers be doing here?” Shiro asked Allura.

“Not only that worries me, but also the fact that this asteroid field should not be here.”

“Princess” Coran spoke “given the Galra history, and our last encounters with the enemy, it is possible that this planetoid has been exploited, due to its possible resources, and what we have in front of us, it’s nothing more than the result of their excessive consumption of Quintessence.”

“It’s very possible Coran.” said the princess.

“If those cruisers are still here,” Pidge said “it means there’s still fuel for them. We could find out what it is.”

“You’re right Pidge,” Keith spoke “and I think the Green Lion’s ability to become invisible is more than appropriate for this situation. Let’s go team!” The Paladins nodded, quickly put on their suits and took their Lions. Shiro and Coran remained on the bridge.

“It’s weird,” said Coran. Shiro looked at him studying the star maps.

“Is something wrong, Coran?”

“According to our maps, here should be a small planet. However, according to the maps of the Blade of Marmora, this planet is no longer here.”

“What does it mean?”

“It means, that these ruins have existed for a long time. Could it be a trap?”

Shiro looked into space, where the cruisers where, and the Green Lion becoming invisible. “There’s only one way to find out.”

…

 

A Galra commander, the same one who lost the Quintessence crystal at the hands of the Paladins, was standing inside the cave, dug by the same Galra inside the remains of the planet. A soldier approached him. “Sir, our sensors still show that this rock is empty. There is nothing in here. In addition, the surface becomes increasingly unstable, do we cancel the excavation?”

“No way” the commander replied immediately.

“B-but, sir, we’ve been here four days.”

“And we will stay as long as necessary. The Witch Haggar said there was another Crystal here, and I’m sure she’s right. We’ll keep searching until—”

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet trembled. The Galra soldier was worried, but the commander was determined to find the Crystal. And then, the soldiers called from the bottom of the cave. “Sir! Here it is!”

The commander went to them in a hurry. The soldier followed him. A wall had been drilled to access a very large space inside the cave. The commander and the soldier entered, and they saw a large crystal in the wall in front of them. A glowing and violet crystal. “That’s it!” The commander got close and rubbed his hands on the crystal. A strange energy ran through his veins as soon as he made contact “No doubt, this is stronger.”

“But, Sir!֫” the soldier approached him “the Crystal is attached to the rock!”

“Then go dig again. We will not leave without the Crystal.”

The soldiers nodded, and began to carve the rock with laser weapons, very slowly, to get the entire Crystal. But the commander shivered. Neck started bothering him. Then he started hearing voices echoing in the distance, all talking at once, unintelligible but clear. He thought he was imagining it, but the voices increased every time he looked at the violet crystal of Quintessence. Suddenly he began to understand the words, mainly: Power, Death, Treasure, Life. And suddenly all the commander’s thoughts focused on the crystal. What was this feeling? He felt like a need to touch the Crystal again, take possession of it.

“Stop!” he said.

He slowly approached the crystal and began to stroke. The feeling was quite satisfactory, but the need to hold it in his own hands had increased. The commander was eager to take over the crystal. Not only to get it, to keep it. But now he had new thoughts, they seemed not to come from him, but from the Crystal, a single thought: “Get me out of here.”

Then the commander regained control of his own mind. He felt his body cold, as if he’d fallen on a river of icy water, and he staggered. The soldiers didn’t understand what was happening, neither the commander, but he turned away from the Crystal. “Finish the job!” he said eagerly. And suddenly there were shoots outside the place.

“What’s going on?” the commander asked through his communicator.

“It’s Voltron sir! He found us!” another soldier answered.

The commander looked at the soldiers around him. “Finish the job! And don’t let the Paladins approach the Crystal!” And then he walked to the exit.


	5. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins meet Kyrek once again. But they have no idea of what's going to happen because of him.

**Voltron: Dark Universe**

**Chapter 5:**

**“Discovery”**

 

The Green Lion became invisible and approached the Galra Cruisers, the plan was for Pidge to get as close as she could and discover what their enemies were doing at that planetoid in ruins. Pidge couldn’t see much from the Lion, there were only a few soldiers in a hollow space below the surface, a cave, so she decided to land. At the same time, a small Galra ship flew right in her direction, and not seeing the Green Lion, both ships made impact. Pidge became visible again, and the Galra detected her presence, the other Lions flew to the cruisers and the fight began. Cruisers would be large, and have heavy and powerful weapons, but in that field full of space rocks, the Paladins could easily dodge those shots.

The Galra commander Kyrek, emerged from the tunnel and stopped at the entrance of the cave, where he saw the shooting. “What’s happening!?” he demanded to know. One of the soldiers approached him.

“It’s Voltron, sir. Our cruisers are already-”

“Where’s our fleet?” Kyrek was anxious, he held the soldier of his armor tightly and held him close to his face. “What’s the use of bringing our hunting ships if they do not appear?!” Then Kyrek threw him to the ground abruptly.

“R-right away sir!” the soldier hurried away, reached a communication console and ordered the ships to appear.

“Bring the cruise!” Kyrek shouted. “The crystal is almost ours, it’s only a matter of time before-” suddenly he stopped. He started sweating and his breathing stirred. The soldier who followed him noticed this discomfort.

“Sir, are you okay?”

The commander looked tired from one moment to another, and suddenly he calmed down. His thoughts turned again to one single object. “I’m fine” he said calmly. “Keep Voltron busy…” then he went back inside the cave “…Do not let them approach _my_ Crystal”

…

From the cruisers, a swarm of small combat ships swirled around the planetoid, and then they headed towards the Lions. While they were dodging, assumptions began.

“I bet they are protecting something. Should we get closer?” Hunk asked.

“We don’t know what’s in there!” Allura said “It could be a weapon. We must stand together and form Voltron.”

The small enemy ships collided even with the asteroids, they were not well organized. Keith heard Shiro’s voice on the communicator. “What is happening there?” Keith didn’t understand the question, what where they doing? Well, they were fighting, right? Keith paid attention to his surroundings: both cruisers hadn’t moved even a little, they just kept firing and did it less often. The swarm chasing them only made them go round and round. And Keith noticed that they were much farther from the planetoid than before. “That’s it!” He exclaimed euphorically. “They’re not trying to bring us down, they just want us away from there! Whatever they’re hiding, it’s very important.”

“What do we do then?” Pidge asked. “This ships don’t stop chasing us, and we won’t have a chance to form Voltron.” The girl had already been studying their enemies, those weren’t the fighter jets that usually caused them troubles. These were much smaller and faster, but if they made contact with an object, they lost control, and it took them time to regroup. “I got it!” Pidge turned with the Green Lion and faced her enemies, she fired her guns and eradicated her pursuers, a part of them.

“Tell us then!” Hunk exclaimed, both cheerful and worried.

“Those ships fly only toward us, no matter what is in front of them, as if they were controlled by remote control, but they have such a narrow signal, that any external interference makes them lose for a few moments.”

“It means we can disorient them!” Allura continued. “And then we will have the opportunity to form Voltron. That’s how we’ll destroy them.”

“But we still don’t know what they’re keeping in there.” Said Hunk. “And if there are prisoners? The cruisers are practically linked to that planetoid, if we destroy them, everything around them will suffer serious damage.”

“Then let’s distract the ships to find out what’s in there!” Keith said. “And then we’ll know what to do.”

“There are too many of them.” Pidge said. “Even if we manage to confuse them, they’ll chase us back there and it’ll not work either.”

“Keith! Let me go!” Said Lance.

“What?” Keith answered. “No!”

“You said that we have to find out what’s hidden there! Let me go then, the Red Lion is faster, I can get there.”

Keith thought about it, it was risky allow Lance to leave the group, the cruisers had been a minor threat so far, but what if they decided at that moment to use their most powerful weapon? Although, Lance was right, first they had to find out what was inside that planetoid. “Hello?” Lance insisted. “You still there?” Keith didn’t hear a word from his partners, they waited in silence, trusting that he would make the right choice. “All right Lance! We’ll give you space.”

Lance smiled enthusiastically, then turned the Red Lion back and flew away from his team and the planetoid, to gain impulse. His pursuers stopped following him, detecting that he was leaving.

“If you need support, call me!” Hunk told him.

“Easy Hunk! This will be a piece of cake.”

“Alright team!” Keith said. “Let’s get the most of these ships to collide in the same place, then we’ll shoot them.”

“Why don’t we shoot them from the Castle?” asked Hunk. Coran answered through the communicator.

_“The Castle isn’t close enough, and even if we get a little closer to you, Paladins, the rocks obstruct us. It’s risky.”_

“Doesn’t matter!” Keith said. “We just want their attention! Ready Lance?”

“What do you think?” He answered excited.

“Why do you think I’m asking?”

“Get ready Lance!” Pidge said. “You’ll only have about four ticks to go through.”

“More than enough.” He said softly, almost to himself.

As it was said, the Lions guided the ships behind them to the same point. Luckily, they stopped following the Red Lion, so it would be easier for Lance to get through that swarm. The other four Lions flew to an imaginary mark, their paths crossed, and the ships collided as expected. On impact, the Lions fired at once, and there, Lance launched quickly. He made his way through a gap between the small ships and headed at full speed toward the planetoid. The swarm regrouped exactly four ticks later, and again they set out to chase the Paladins, unaware that one had escaped them.

For some reason, neither of the two Cruisers attacked, maybe they hadn’t seen the Red Lion, or maybe they no longer cared, whatever the reason, it was easy for Lance to land at the base of the Planetoid, out of sight of the Cruises. With his helmet on and his Bayard in his hand, Lance came out of the Red Lion's mouth. The planetoid looked much more damaged from up close, there were gaps everywhere, some bigger than others, and it seemed to be falling apart more and more. Lance took advantage of these holes and poked his head through one of them. The interior of the planetoid seemed to be hollow, there were Galra soldiers carrying fragments of the Purple Crystal in floating wagons.

“ _Lance!”_ Keith spoke through the communicator. _“What can you see?”_

“Well, it seems that the Galra are digging. They are taking aboard the Cruiser wagons with a shiny material. But they’ll stop doing it.”

Lance entered through the hole, big enough for him and fired at the robotic soldiers. Lance threw himself into the cave driven by his thrusters, a mysterious invisible force pulled him to the ground and nearly lost his balance, but he managed to dodge the shots of his opponents and return the fire. While the robots attacked him, the Galra soldiers took the wagon aboard the Cruiser and rushed to board them as well. Lance got rid of the robots, but the Cruiser was already closing its floodgates. Lance stood up and made two important discoveries.

“Guys?” He stood up firmly and removed the helmet shield. “There's oxygen and gravity inside here.”

“ _What?_ ” Allura said. “ _How is that possible? It can be possible?”_

Then, Lance heard more robot soldiers approaching. He hid behind a rock and saw them coming from a tunnel with another wagon full of crystals. The robots were surprised by their fallen companions and the Cruiser disappeared, but Lance took care of them before they could do anything. Lance approached the car and noticed the bright purple crystals.

"The Galra are collecting purple diamonds." Lance took one of the fragments in his hands. "Maybe they're doing business with traffickers. Man! Dirty money." Lance exclaimed. And they hoped it was just that, for the good of all.

“ _Is that all you can see?”_ Keith asked. “ _A Cruiser is retreating. Hurry up!”_

“Understood!” said Lance, and he entered the tunnel in a hurry.

When he reached the bottom he saw another group of Galra extracting pieces of a much larger crystal, perhaps four meters high. Silently, Lance threw himself at his enemies: he shot the robots and easily knocked out the Galra. Lance called his team as he approached the crystal.

“Guys, I think I found the big shot. Here is a huge purple crystal.”

“ _How much?_ ” Asked Pidge.

“It’s not bigger than the Lions, but it seems that the Galra wanted to take it”. Lance approached the cut area and touched the glass. “It seems that they tried to take it full, but when they couldn’t they started to make pieces. Luckily Lancey was here to stop them”. He exclaimed proudly.

“ _Good Lance!”_ Keith replied, relieved “ _now come back with us. We’ll regroup and take that Crystal._ ”

“No no!” He stopped him. “Maybe I can take it, with the Red Lion" he said confidently.

“ _Are you sure?”_

“Of course! It will be a piece of cake." Lance turned and headed back to the tunnel, until something made him turn back to the Crystal. A shivering sensation ran through Lance's body, and he turned to see the large crystal in front of him. And suddenly he felt a pain in his head, as if his temples had been stung. Then he started hearing voices.

“Guys!” He shouted. “Stop talking all at once!” But they were not his partners, Lance began to hear the echo of distant voices, getting closer and closer to his ears. Men and women, words and grunts. Until the voices said clear words ‘Death ... Power ... Darkness ... Life ... Death ... Life ... Power ... Power...’ suddenly the voices guided Lance. He knew he was walking, and he knew that it wasn’t him who decided to move forward, but he did not stop, until his hand landed on the great dark crystal. Then he regained control of his thoughts.

“ _Lance!_ ” Keith called him. “ _What’s happening? Are you okay?”_

Lance looked up at the great crystal, it was shining with great intensity.

“Guys, I know what this is… it’s a Quintessence Crystal.”

“ _Another one?_ ” Said Allura. “ _But didn’t you say it was of another color?”_

“It is, but I know it is.”

Suddenly Lance felt movement behind him. When he turned, he received a strong blow that sent him several meters away from the Crystal. He fell to the ground and rolled several times, before looking up and seeing a well-known Galra Commander. “You?” he asked. Lance got up. The Commander was breathing heavily, but he clenched his fists decisively.

“What a great surprise Paladin!”

“What are you doing here?”

“I'm Commander Kyrek, and I'm here to take this Crystal with me!”

The commander, Kyrek, ran to Lance, who activated his shield to protect himself from the Galra's blows, but finally hit him in the side, then the soldier lifted him by one arm and one leg and drove him away again with force.

“ _Lance! What’s happening?”_ Keith asked. Lance was on the ground catching his breath. Then he looked again at the Purple Quintessence Crystal. As he did so, a strange sensation seized him, a burning desire he had not experienced in that amount: Lance longed to seize the Crystal for himself. And he knew he could not meet his goal, with that Galra standing in his way. Lance stood up, and this time with fury, ran towards his enemy, who did the same.

…

 

“ _No! It’s mine!_ ’ Lance shouted.

“Lance!” Keith called again. A few moments ago, Lance seemed to have discovered and frustrated the Galra plan, a huge Quintescence Crystal hidden within the planetoid was in the process of being extracted; but suddenly Lance started talking oddly, and suddenly they only heard him scream and argue with someone, possibly he was fighting with someone. But Lance didn’t respond to his team, as if he wasn’t listening to them.

“Enough!” Keith exclaimed, frustrated by the game in which the swarm of ships had occupied them. "I'm tired of this! Lion, let's finish with them once!” Keith took his Bayard, and the compartment to activate the Black Lion's special ability was also activated. Keith inserted the Bayard and launched into the attack. The wings of the Black Lion shone, and after a roar, the Lion threw itself like a projectile towards his pursuers and destroyed them. “Let's go for Lance!” After the order, the four Paladins flew to the planetoid, where a Cruise still remained.

…

Lance was thrown to the wall again, Commander Kyrek prepared to punch him in the face, but Lance dodged and he hit the wall. Kyrek cried out in pain, and Lance took advantage; He pushed himself with his thruster and attacked his enemy, Lance threw him to the other end of the cave, and then hit him hard with his leg. Kyrek fell, apparently, submitted.

Lance was breathing hard, but he felt full of satisfaction at having defeated his opponent, he smiled mischievously and walked towards the Crystal, ignoring the pain in the body he felt. He reached the Crystal and laid his hands on it, a feeling of exaltation seized Lance: the Crystal was all his. Or maybe it was the other way.

“Lance!” His friends shouted.

Lance turned quickly, and at first he tensed, if they wanted the Crystal, he would not leave them. But suddenly he regained complete control of himself, he recognized his friends and the worry took hold of him “Guys?” He asked with fear. “What happened?” Lance looked around, remembering to have disposed of the Garla soldiers, but not the Commander, who also lay on the ground. Suddenly Lance remembered his recent battle and realized how tired he felt. He staggered and fell to the ground on his knees. His friends ran to help him.

“Lance, are you okay?” Hunk asked, taking him by the arm.

“I think so”. Lance had a headache.

“What happened?” Keith asked.

"I..." Keith and Hunk helped Lance to his feet. Lance shook his head, to clarify his ideas, but just in front of them Commander Kyrek had risen to his feet, had another wagon with fragments of Crystal and was pointing his weapon at the Paladins. Kyrek fired, but not at them, but at the Quintessence Crystal. The projectiles reacted with the Crystal, and it started to shine more strongly. Kyrek hastened to escape with the wagons.

“The Galra!” Allura exclaimed when she saw him flee. But Lance knew what was about to happen.

“Get down!” He cried, as he took his friends and pushed them to the ground.

Lance also crouched, just as the Crystal lit up and exploded. A dense cloud of purple smoke filled the cave and shot out through the tunnel, along with a peculiar sound, similar to a roar. Commander Kyrek was already boarding the second Cruise when the cloud covered him. Kyrek noticed that for the first time he had at his reach all the Lions of Voltron, and his Paladins at his mercy... but his priority had already changed.

Kyrek fell to the ground when the gate closed completely. His soldiers helped him to his feet. And while he regained his breath he established the course. “To Orion Prime!”

“Yes sir!” Replied one of his soldiers and withdrew.

...

The Paladins woke up, still with smoke inside the cave. They heard footsteps from the tunnel and prepared for anything. But it was not a Galra, it was Shiro.

“Paladins! Are you all right?” He looked worried. Keith got up before the others.

“Yeah, we're fine, what happened?”

“After you decided to land on the planetoid communication was lost. You didn’t answer me, and then we saw an explosion. Then the Galra Cruise retreated, and fearing the worst, Coran and I came at once, what happened?”

Keith looked at his companions, nobody seemed to be hurt, except for Lance. "I'm not sure, but I think we have a clue." Keith pointed at Lance, and everyone looked at him. The young man was still sitting on the floor, and when he noticed everyone's glances he felt uncomfortable. Suddenly he felt an object in his hands. Lance had clung to a fragment of the Quintessence Crystal, not knowing why, and without knowing how. Without asking questions at that moment, the Paladins decided to leave. The huge Crystal had disappeared, and the planetoid would soon be completely destroyed. The Paladins boarded their Lions, and all returned to the Castle.

What where they fighting this time?


	6. The Dark Crystal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance brought a piece of the Dark Crystal. The Paladins must find out how powerfull it is, and why the Galra want it...  
> They have no idea.

**Voltron: Dark Universe**

**Chapter 6:**

**“The Dark Crystal”**

The Paladins returned to the Castle to remove their armor, but instead of resting a little, they all went to a medical room. Lance was lying on a chair, with Pidge placing connectors in his face, and in a scan on a surface there two small Crystals of Quintessence, one white and one purple. Right above, a screen showed a bar graph.

“Shouldn’t we be chasing the Galra who escaped?” Lance asked. Beside Pidge were the others.

“We can’t do that” Shiro said. “First, because we lost track of them, and second, we must make sure that you are well.”

“And…” Pidge added. “First we need to find out a little more about this Crystal, and how it’s affecting you.”

“I’ve told you that I’m fine” Lance repeated. “Maybe I just hit my head a little, that’s all.”

Allura was worried about him, but focused her attention at the Purple Quintessence Crystal.

“Pidge, what have you discovered?”

“Honestly Allura, I’m not sure” Pidge looked at the holographic screen, and as she spoke, the data changed. “Lance was right, basically, this Crystal is pure, and very powerful Quintessence. I decided to compare it with one of our shards, which we obtained a few weeks ago, and they have very similar abilities. Both shards have the potential to be fuel, source of power, for health, anything. I dare say they have no limit in what they can do. Now look at this.”

Pidge approached a keyboard and pressed a few keys, on the screen appeared a wave graph, with a curved line in constant motion. “This graph represents the energy that emanates from our Crystal, as you can see it is controlled and stable, and its energy is constant and unchanging. It didn’t change a bit when Coran and I removed a sample. Now I will show you the energy that emanates from the Purple Crystal.” Pidge typed again and a new graph appeared, similar to the previous one, but in this there was not one, but five curves, and each of them moved at different speeds. “As you can see, the energy that the second Crystal has is much more unstable.”

“Where does so much energy comes from?” Hunk asked.

“I’m still trying to find out. But wait, there’s more.” After typing again, the curves became small and more data appeared. “This are the vital signs of Lance before finding the Crystals. As you can see, his vitals are stable, his neuronal activity works correctly, normal heartbeats. And now, I’ll show you his vitals now.”

Everyone looked and were shocked, Lance’s heart rate had increased markedly, as had his brain activity, but the screen showed a warning sign, indicating that Lance was very weak. Finally, the image had turned purple, and in his brain the same movement of energy in the purple Crystal was recorded.

Lance, who seemed less impressed than the others, raised his hand to speak. “What does so many lines, colors and letters mean? Hunk?”

Hunk looked at him confused, and looked at the graph one more time. “I’m not sure Lance. But, for you to understand, your body doesn’t have the strength to stand, actually, you should feel exhausted, and yet, your mind is working at more than the maximum of capacity, and that prevents you to feeling tired.”

“It’s not just that.” Allura said. “If that energy in Lance’s brain is the same that in the Crystal, it could mean-”

“A possible psychic connection between Lance and the Crystal.” Pidge finished.

“Did you check that theory?” Keith asked.

“I tried, but I haven’t gotten anything accurate.”

Hunk went to Lance and pinched him on the arm. Lance gave a sharp cry. “And why was that!?”

“Did it hurt? Did you feel it?” Asked his friend.

“Of course I felt it! What did you expect?”

The alteration of his vital signs was recorded on the screen, while the Crystal was intact. Then, Hunk approached the Purple Crystal and did the same, he even tried to scrape it.

“Do you feel that Lance? Am I tickling you?”

Lance looked at him tiredly. “No Hunk, I do not feel ticklish.”

“I don’t think it works with physical contact” Pidge said. “But we could try to exercise his mind. Lance, can you tell us again what happened?”

Lance sighed exhausted, he wanted to leave that chair and remove those connectors. "I already told you I don’t remember.”

“Try, please.” Keith insisted, sternly.

Lance looked at him and sighed again. He started talking lazily. “All I remember is that I arrived at the planetoid, entered the tunnel and fired those Galra robots. Then I saw the Crystal, and the wagons with their fragments. And then-” He stopped. His mind returned to the strange feeling, and it took a few seconds before continuing. “And then I felt very strange, it was like, being hot and cold at the same time, I felt exhausted, I was thirsty and hungry, but I also felt full of strength, and all because of the Crystal. I wanted to have it, to hold it in my hands and, I don’t know, to keep it with me always. Then, I seem to have taken a hit, and the rest is blurred. The next thing I remember is seeing you guys in front of me. And here we are.”

Pidge and Allura noticed that, as soon as Lance remembered the sensation produced by the Crystal, the fragment that they had, started showing signals of activity. Sure enough, the Crystal was connected to Lance's mind. When he finished speaking, everyone looked at the princess.

“There’s no doubt that there is a very strong mental connection. One that I had only seen present, between a Paladin of Voltron and his Lion. This is serious.”

“It doesn’t mean that we could use this to our advantage?” Shiro asked. “If this force is as powerfull as Voltron, it could give us one more advantage against the Galra.”

“But it’s not natural.” She replied. “Such a strong connection shouldn’t manifest itself in a gem of this size, or at such concentration. We're not even sure what kind of power this is.”

“Then can you break the link?”

Allura thought it over. She looked at her team, at Coran, and finally looked back at Shiro. “I’ll try.”

The princess put her hands to the purple Crystal and closed her eyes. She concentrated and started sending her own Quintessence into the Crystal. At first she noticed a great resistance, it was as if the object had psychic barriers protecting the center. Even so, they were not so hardy, and she had enough strength to get through them. When she crossed the first barrier she seemed to feel something more than just energy. Life.

When Allura went through the second barrier she felt a new essence, the presence of a living being, was it Lance? No, it was a much more powerful, ancient, stealthy presence. When she reached the third barrier, the presence intensified, it was certain that the Crystal sheltered something more than power, but what? Suddenly, something brought her from her thoughts. Since Allura began the process, Lance felt uncomfortable, he was feeling itchy in the head, and although he scratched, the sensation remained. Then he started with the headache again. At the same time, Pidge proved that the activity of the Crystal was increasing, and that of Lance was the same.

Allura came across a new barrier, this time much stronger than the others, impregnated with energy very similar to Voltron’s. And then something attacked her. A dark beast appeared in her mind, its purple eyes were impregnated in Allura, just at the moment when her mind was attacked by this dark power. Allura fell to the ground pressing his temples, as the feeling continued, and Lance suffered the same. As the psychic beast attacked Allura, Lance felt a twinge in his whole body, intense pain, and his energies being drained. The sensation stopped, and Allura found herself supported by Shiro and Coran, while Lance controlled himself and saw Hunk, Pidge and Keith.

“What happened?” Shiro asked.

Allura regained her balance, she was exhausted. "Whatever it is, it's not just Quintessence. I felt something in there, a presence, traces of a living creature ... and dangerous.”

While Allura shook her head, Lance, sweating and breathing hard, moved restlessly in the chair. His friends called him, but Lance couldn’t see them, his eyes had clouded over. The headache worsened and Lance began to scream. When he started to shake violently, Hunk, Keith and Shiro held his limbs firmly. Although they called him, Lance didn’t respond, in fact, he didn’t listen to them anymore.

…

 

Suddenly Lance opened his eyes and saw darkness. Anxiety dominated him, but he saw a light in front of him, little one. A star? No, a small planet. Suddenly the planet was getting closer and closer to him, or was it he who was approaching the planet? Quickly the vision changed, as if he entered the atmosphere, began to descend quickly, to distinguish a Galra base. Then he entered the base through the walls.

Lance was taken to a room where there were two Galra: a general, and Commander Kyrek. And as if he were there he could hear them clearly.

"Sir, I swore allegiance to you, and I have shown it to you since before this mission began. But I must remind you that our orders were to locate the Dark Crystal, collect as much of it as possible, and go to Haggar with them.”

“I understand your concern, General. But I spent whole days searching for the remains of the planetoid, and locating it, three more days digging, searching for the last remnant of this, powerful, source of power. So I'm not willing to hand it over to that Witch, who doesn’t even come out of her burrow.”

“But sir!”

“I know what I do General! I already chose a side... it's time for you to choose one.”

After a few seconds the general replied, and left the room. “Understood, sir.”

Suddenly, Kyrek opened a compartment, which was filled with the fragments of Crystal that he got from the ruins. And like a bolt of lightning, Lance wanted to get there, and a voice told him where to go-

…

 

Lance woke up taking a breath of air, as if he had been holding his breath for a long time. He lifted his body from the chair, but his strength vanished and he collapsed weakened. His friends held him and prevented him from falling. Lance tried to catch his breath, he was sweating and tears fell from his eyes.

“Lance!” Cried Hunk, anguished. "What happened to you? Are you okay?”

Lance was very exhausted, he felt very tired and wanted to sleep. He need to take deep breathes while talking.

“I know... where they are... the Galra.” His voice was weak. “They are... in Orion Prime.”

“Orion Prime?” Allura wondered.

“How do you know?” Hunk asked.

“Because I saw it... I was just there, I- Kyrek, he intends to keep the Dark Crystal... there it is... in Orion Prime.”

“But what are you talking about?” Keith asked. But Lance could no longer answer, for he fell asleep.

…

Hunk and Keith took Lance with great care to his room. They laid him down and closed the door. Then they returned with the others.

“We shouldn’t take him better to a capsule?” Hunk asked. “He doesn’t look very, _healthy_ , let's say.”

"I'm scared." Pidge said. "This is much more dangerous than we thought.”

"Me too, Pidge." Allura said. "We must find out exactly what this _Dark Crystal_ is.”

“What was that?” Hunk asked. “Suddenly he had a kind of attack, and suddenly he says he has traveled to another planet.”

"I don’t think it was mental delirium." Shiro said. "Although, I confess that I am still assimilating what we have just witnessed.”

“Then what do we do?” Asked Coran. "Orion Prime is a small planet near here, relatively speaking. But since before the war against the Galras, it was already a desolate wasteland.”

“How accurate is it that Lance says the truth?” Asked Pidge.

"He was right about that the Crystal was Quintessence." Hunk said. "Though, I've never seen one so dangerous.”

"Another reason to follow the Galra." Keith said. "Imagine what they could do with this. We must stop them now that we can.”

“But what assures us that we are going in the right direction?” Asked Pidge.

"Lance." Keith said. "I trust him. And whatever is happening to him is because of that Crystal. If the Galra have it, or are using it, then there’s a solution right there. If we go, we destroy their base, we eliminate their supplies, and from their database we obtain all the necessary information... well, not in that order." He corrected himself.

"I trust Lance, too." Said Shiro. "And you?”

Without thinking too much, they all answered “I trust Lance too.” And with that, Allura ordered Coran to go to the planet Orion Prime. While she was going to her room. Pidge and Hunk returned to the medical room, to finish analyzing the Dark Crystal. And before he could retire, Keith stopped Shiro.

“Shiro, I have to talk to you.”

“What happens Keith?”

“I, I have decided that, I mean-”

“Is everything alright?”

Keith sighed and clarified his ideas. "I'm going to start going on missions with the Blade of Marmora. I've already talked to Kolivan, and it's already decided. I just wanted you to be the first to know.”

Shiro thought for a few seconds. The news hadn’t taken him completely by surprise, as Kolivan had already told him about the Paladin's intentions, but now that he was speaking, it was already certain that this would happen. “When you start?”

“In about three weeks. I will not leave the team, I will simply go to the missions, I will train, and when I finish I’ll return here. I'm still a Paladin of Voltron anyway.”

Shiro smiled at him, and Keith was relieved. Shiro took Keith by the shoulder. “It’s great, Keith. But your real challenge will be to explain it to others.”

“Heh, I've already practiced it. But I must wait a little longer, Lance's well-being is what worries me most at this moment.”

“Yeah, me too. Come on, we have to be prepared.”


	7. Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins arrive to the Galra base, unknowing that something bigger is about to happen.

**Chapter 7:**

**“Attack”**

 

Allura was in her room, sitting on the bed cross-legged, surrounded by books of different width, size and color. Previously she had taken her armor, she was ready to leave as soon as they arrived on their destination. But her mind was looking for something else. She took a book to her right, opened it, checked all the pages quickly, closed it and bounced it to her left. Some of the books were hers, she kept them in her room, others she had had to look for them in Coran’s room, and where the holographic version of King Alfor used to talk to her. She searched, page after page, without success.

“Come on!” She told herself. “It has to be somewhere.”

Next to her were her mouse friends, who had to take care of their heads every time the Princess took or discarded another book. One of them made a question.

“Lance said something about _Dark Crystals_.” She answered. “I’m pretty sure I’ve heard something similar as a child.  But I can’t-” She stopped. She hold one of the books, inside which she found a large image with what seemed to be a completely dark planet.

_“Your attention ladies and gentlemen!”_ The voice of Coran was heard throughout the castle.

…

 

_“I am pleased to inform you that we have reached our destination, I repeat, we have reached Orion Prime.”_

Lance opened his eyes suddenly as soon as he heard that.

…

 

The Paladins had already gathered on the bridge. Coran had stopped the castle keeping distance with the planet.

“What can you tell us about this planet, Coran?” Shiro asked.

“There is not much to tell” he answered. "It has always been classified as a very small planet, never gave indications of sustainable life. The previous Paladins of Voltron did their best to save this place, but then the war against the Galra broke out. During the last days of King Alfor, Zarkon came to establish a small base on the surface. That’s all we have so far.

“One thing is for sure” Keith said. “The Galra are there.”

“If the castle gets too close, it will catch their attention,” Allura said “I think the best strategy would be to keep a reasonable distance, while we go down in our Lions.”

“I’m in favor of that plan” Shiro said.

“Like me” said Coran “I’ll prepare the weapons in case things get ugly.”

“What’s the plan when we go down there?” Asked Pidge.

“We need to find out if they have the Crystals in there.” Keith said. “We need someone to get in, and someone to distract them outside.”

“I ask to be the distraction!” said Hunk, raising his arm. “As they focus on me, Pidge can sneak into the facility.”

“All right. Allura and I will make way for Pidge, and then we'll support you.” Keith looked at Allura. “All right?” She, and the rest of the team nodded. “All right team! It's time to-”

Suddenly the door behind them opened. They all turned and were surprised to see Lance enter with his armor on.

“Lance!” Hunk yelled. Lance looked up and smile at him. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you talking about? I’m going with you.”

Lance didn’t look so well. He could barely stand up, dragged his feet, his back was hunched and his arms were loose. When he took a step he lost balance and had to hold on to the wall to avoid falling.

“Lance, you should be resting now!” Pidge told him. Keith looked at him sternly and walked towards him.

“What are you talking about? I’m fine.” Said Lance.

“Lance,” Keith was in front of him, but being bent, Lance had to raise his head. “What are you doing?”

“What? I planning to go with you... we are a team.”

“No! What you’re planning is to risk your life, and at the same time the whole mission!” Keith shouted.

“Of course not! I’ll show you!”

“Don’t show me anything! You don’t have to do this!”

“Maybe this way you understand that I’m capable of-”

“It's not about whether you're capable or not! It's about-”

“Why don’t you trust me!?” Lance straightened.

“I do! But you don’t understand!”

“I don’t understand what?, that you care about me now?”

“YES!!!”

There was silence for several seconds. Lance did not expect to hear that answer, so he went blank. Keith was furious, and the others just stared at the boys without being sure what to do. Keith took a deep breath, and tried to relax.

“Why don’t you understand, Lance. I do care about you. You are one of the few people I really trust, don’t you understand? I do not want the worst for you, just the opposite.” He stopped a few seconds. “And that's why I won’t let you come. Exposing your life like that to prove your point is not courage, its stupidity. Don’t be stupid, and go to rest. It's an order.” He concluded before Lance objected. Keith looked away, and then walked. “Let’s go!”

No other word was said. Allura and Pidge walked, then Hunk, who looked ruefully at Lance. “I'm sorry, buddy.” That was the only thing he said.

“…Hunk…”

Lance saw him go along with the rest of the team. He remained motionless, his eyes lost. He felt betrayed, insecure, confused and in pain, not physically. Shiro and Coran looked at each other, while the Altean concentrated on the controls, Shiro approached Lance and pressed his shoulder.

“It’s not your fault, Lance. You just have to-”

“Leave me!” Lance snapped his hand away and walked away from him. When he turned around, Shiro saw tears falling down his cheeks. “You don’t believe in me either... you never did...” And said that he ran off the bridge, not without stumbling on the road.

Shiro felt sorry for him, as well as confusion, why suddenly Lance had lost confidence in himself? He had to find out, but now he had to concentrate on the mission. So he approached Coran and saw the four Lions heading towards the planet.

…

“Are you absolutely sure, general?” A female voice asked, through a holographic call.

“I swear to you for my life, Lady Haggar,” replied the General, kneeling before her. “The Commander has stipulated that the Crystals of Quintessence are his, and he has demanded that I choose a side. Obviously, I chose you.”

“And you did well, General. We cannot allow insurgencies like this among our own people, much less now.” Haggar thought for a few seconds. "We can’t allow Kyrek to continue this absurd revolt. Gather the men who are still loyal to Emperor Zarkon.”

“I already did, my Lady. Right now they are preparing the Cruise to leave immediately.”

“Not only that... we can’t leave Kyrek loose, nor can we leave the Dark Quintessence within reach, it already caused us enough discomfort...”

“What do you want me to do with it?”

“Destroy it. Along with Kyrek.”

“I understand.” said the general, standing up.

“I trust you will succeed, general” said this, the holographic image of Haggar disappeared.

…

The Yellow Lion appeared among the clouds of the desert and rocky planet. The soldiers quickly intercepted him and ordered to shoot him. However, the guns were slow to obey. By the time they fired, Hunk was already practically on top of them, and he began to damage the weapons of the small Galra base with the talons of the Lion.

Behind him appeared the Black and Blue Lions, once a cannon was destroyed, they fired at the structure and created a hole. By then, fighter ships began to emerge and shoot; no ship detected the Green Lion crossing the hole and infiltrating the facilities. Once inside, Pidge hid the Lion in a corner and descended. With stealth, Pidge advanced through the corridors, looking for the control room. This would connect to the database of the base, and discover if there really were the Crystals of Quintessence.

“There are very few guards. Maybe this is easier than we expected.” She told her companions.

…

 

“Commander Kyrek! Voltron is here!” Said a soldier, altered. Kyrek was still standing, staring at the Crystals of Quintessence.

“And what are you waiting to attack?” He said without even looking to see it.

“We launched the fighters, but for some reason we lack personnel. There are soldiers who left their posts and-”

“Just get rid of Voltron.”

“B-but sir!”

“Get out of here!” He shouted angrily. The soldier looked at him terrified and obeyed. Kyrek returned his attention to the Crystals.

…

 

“I'm in!” Said Pidge. In just a few seconds she had taken care of the few soldiers that were there. “I'll connect to the computer.”

_“Everything seems to paint well! Don’t you think?”_ Hunk asked. Both outside and inside, there were few Galra enemies, it was as if a part of the soldiers had retreated.

_“Maybe there's a chance to end this soon!”_ Keith said. _“Pidge, is there Quintessence in this place?”_

“Give me a few ticks,” the girl said, making a holographic screen appear on her wrist. “Let me see. Yes, it's still here. It's stored on a floor below me. There's something else. I identify a Galra Cruise about to take off.”

_“With crystals?”_ Allura asked.

“I don’t think so, it seems-” Suddenly Pidge heard footsteps outside the room. She quickly disconnected from the system and hid behind the keyboard.

A Galra general came in slowly. Alone. He went to the console and started typing. Pidge peeked cautiously, and the General shook his head slightly. Pidge hid quickly, but she had already been discovered.

“I suggest you leave this place, Paladin.” He pushed one last button and turned around. “We both need to leave as soon as possible, okay?”

The Galra left with the same calmness with which he had entered, and Pidge could not help but be curious.

_“Pidge! We're inside.”_ Keith said through the communicator.


	8. Failed Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't go as they should've. The base is destroyed, but that's not the only thing that's gone.

**Chapter 8:**

**“Failed Mission”**

Shiro arrived at Lance’s room. The door was closed. He felt bad for him, something was happening and he had to find out soon. Lance wasn’t like that. After scratching his head, he knocked on the door.

“Lance?” He got no response. Shiro insisted. “Lance, can I come in?” Silence again.

Shiro sighed and stepped closer to the door. “All right, I’m just asking you to listen to me. Whatever you feel right now, what you are thinking, we can solve it. You know you can trust me, because I trust you, you are-” Shiro pressed the panel and the door opened, much to his surprise. He came in looking for Lance in the darkness. “Lance? Did you hear me?”

…

 

“What did you say!?” Hunk took Pidge by the arms. He looked at her scared.

“Someone has just started the self-destruct sequence of the base. Surely the Galra that I saw a few moments ago.”

“Why would they do something like that?” Asked Allura. “Are they trying to sacrifice their own base to eliminate us?”

“Unless we’re not the target.” Keith said. “Pidge, how many Galra are still at the base?”

“Let’s see.” She said, checking the data on the base. “About seventy-five soldiers. While another twenty-five are registered in the Cruise about to take off. I don’t get it. Usually the Galra soldiers register each one of their movements, they specify the load of the Cruises and their destination, but there’s none of that.”

“What about the Crystals? Is there any information about it?” said Keith. Then, the door opened, Galra soldiers entered and fired at them. The Paladins dodged them hiding behind the consoles. “We’ll cover you!” He said to Pidge, jumping with his shield activated and his sword in hand. Pidge, knew that if the base was going to blow up, they had little time.

…

 

A ship entered the planet’s atmosphere, heading at full speed towards the Galra base. A small ship for a single passenger. It was Lance, who sneaked through the Castle to the hangar, and managed to escape without being detected by Shiro or Coran. Going out in the Red Lion would have alerted them immediately. Maybe it had been luck, but the important thing was that he had left.

As he approached the base he left his communicator on. Another stroke of luck, because he managed to hear Pidge say that the Crystals of Quintessence were there, under the first floor. That was his goal. He had to go around the base, not to be spotted by the Galra fighters, or by his friends. Something inside him knew, or believed, that they shouldn’t know he was there. When he saw an opportunity, he took a nosedive to the hangar. His speed was such that the ship crawled, overturned and hit the end of the hangar. Again luck was on his side, or maybe it was something else, because Lance was unharmed from the landing.

With his weapon ready to fire, Lance went into the base. He turned off his communicator so as not to be discovered. He still felt weak and disoriented, but he felt the need to find the Quintessence. It had called him, and he had to answer. He wanted to have it in his hands. He got rid of the guards he found, those who were still in their posts, until he managed to find an elevator. He couldn’t activate the elevator on his own, he needed help. The elevator opened with a soldier in. Lance took him by surprise and left him unconscious, then took his place in the elevator and was able to go down.

…

 

“That was the last one!” Hunk affirmed. It hadn’t been a hard battle, but it was dangerous.

“Guys, there’s nothing!” Said Pidge frustrated. “There’s no information here! It’s empty!” Pidge was confused, as much as her friends.

What was the point of containing such a powerful and dangerous material in a place without information about it, without protocol to follow, and with soldiers preparing to escape? Was it a bait? Or maybe it was work of the Marmora Blade, but why they did not warn them? Or maybe…

“Maybe,” Keith said. “Maybe the Quintessence was not supposed to be brought here.” Everyone looked at him, and they began to understand. “That’s why there’s no information, no logbook here. This base should never have the Quintessence.”

“So, it’s something like a riot?” Hunk thought. “Someone would have tried to steal it, he was discovered, and now they try to erase all evidence of this: the soldiers, the base, and the Crystals.”

“And us, if we stay here!” Allura said.

“Then what, are we leaving?” Pidge asked Keith.

Keith didn’t like to retreat, especially when he hadn’t been able to achieve his goal. In this case he hadn’t achieved anything, not Crystals, nor information, or anything more than a base about to explode. The trip had been in vain, because in the end, someone would have destroyed the base, with or without them. Keith grimaced.

“The best thing is to leave. Today we failed.” It was the only thing he could say. His companions, although they didn’t say it, thought the same thing. They just nodded at him. After a sigh, Keith ordered the retreat.

…

 

Lance soon found the room. When he got off the elevator he found a long corridor, there were only five doors, and he decided to go for the biggest one. He had not mistaken. Upon entering, he found on his left a large open compartment. There were all the Crystals of Dark Quintessence. Lance felt excited, relieved and proud. He had achieved his goal. He lowered his guard and approached the Crystals, took one and smiled enthusiastically. Suddenly he felt movement behind him. When he turned he received a strong blow that sent him to the other end of the room. He dropped his weapon and the Crystal. When he looked up he discovered Kyrek.

“You are a real nuisance...”

Lance picked up momentum, stood up and launched himself at Kyrek. He tried to hit him, but the Galra easily avoided him. When he tried to punch him, Kyrek took him by the arm, picked him up and with his other arm hit him in the stomach, throwing him away again. Kyrek walked towards him while he recovered his breath.

“This is our last meeting. Today, only one of the two comes out alive from here.”

“… I agree.” Said Lance. The boy managed to kick Kyrek, causing him to fall.

Lance stood up, looked for his gun and wanted to run, but Kyrek took him by the foot and he fell. Kyrek lunged at Lance, but he hit him with his legs. He stood up and ran to the bayard. When he held it in his hands he turned and aimed, but Kyrek had taken a long piece of metal, which he used as a sword. He hit the gun just as Lance fired, and then he tried to hit Lance. He protected himself with his shield. Kyrek was very strong, so he pushed Lance to the wall. Metal and shield collided again. Lance rested one of his feet on the wall behind him, and with his propeller he pushed forward. He threw Kyrek to the other end. The Galra rose decisively and charged against Lance.

…

 

The Paladins had already boarded their Lions, when the Galra Cruise began to take off.

“Shiro, we’ll go back to the Castle… we couldn’t get anything.” Keith said. He did not receive an answer. “Shiro?”

“Something must interfere with communication.” Allura said. “It’s best to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“All right, team! Let’s go.”

The Black Lion got up, and the other Lions did the same. Just when taking off, at the base a small explosion became visible. The self-destruction had begun, and who knows how long it would take, and what would be the magnitude of the damage. The Cruise left the planet almost at the same time as the Paladins of Voltron. Upon leaving the space, they distinguished the Castle, which was heading towards them. The communications were restored.

“-Respond!” Shiro shouted.

“Coran!” Allura called.

“Princess! Are you all okay?”

“Communications failed!” Keith said. “But we’re fine.” He said dejectedly.

“Guys, there is a problem!” Shiro said. The Lions were about to reach the Castle. “Lance does not appear anywhere!” Keith was shocked.

“What!?”

“He’s not in the Castle! And there’s a ship missing in the hangar!” We think he went down-”

“To the planet…” Keith said in aguish. Lance was down there, on a base about to explode.

Without saying anything else, Keith turned the Black Lion and headed back to the planet.

…

 

Kyrek took Lance by the neck and picked him up, giving him a wicked smile. Lance needed air. He kicked and shook as hard as he could, but Kyrek was very strong. His weapon was on the ground, so he could not get away. Kyrek took Lance's helmet off.

“I want to see your face before dying…” He said with satisfaction. Kyrek looked at the helmet in his hands, and this is when Lance decided to sting his eyes. Kyrek screamed as he dropped him to the ground. But he didn’t let him catch his breath. As soon as Lance fell, Kyrek took the piece of metal from the ground and hit the boy on the head. Lance was thrown this time towards the Quintessence. Kyrek was furious, took the tip of his weapon and hit it hard on the wall. The result, the tip had doubled, and now it was sharp. Kyrek approached Lance breathing hard. It was time to end this.

“Any last words?” Kyrek asked, preparing to deliver the final blow. Tehn he felt a terrible twinge in his chest, which had reached his spine. Kyrek looked down and saw a hole in his suit, and in his body. Lance had managed to take his gun, and shoot him.

“Yes…” He said with difficulty. “… You lost.”

Kyrek's expression changed to horror, and when he fell to his knees, tired. Finally Kyrek fell dead. Lance was leaning in the compartment. Now that the battle was over, he felt even more tired than before. A twinge in his head made him discover he was bleeding. Finally he realized how stupid all this had been: escape from the castle, sneak out without alerting anyone, and not count on his friends. Lance tried to stand up, but his strength failed him and he couldn’t.

Lance heard an explosion above him, and everything shook. Lance understood that there was not much time left, and he began to cry. He realized his mistake, of all those he had committed, and of everything he could not do. He thought of his family, his home on Earth, in the ocean, then in Voltron, in Allura, Hunk, Pidge, Shiro, Coran, and Keith. Suddenly he heard his voice.

“Lance!”

Lance looked up, looking for him, but he realized that the voice came from his helmet, from his communicator. Lance dropped to the ground, and with difficulty began to crawl.

“Lance! Can you hear me?” Keith was worried.

One more explosion. The walls began to crack. Lance reached his helmet.

“…Keith.” He said in his choked voice.

“Lance!” He exclaimed with relief and concern. “How did you get here? Where are you?”

“…No …You won’t get here. Keith, I’m sorry…”

“Shut up! I’m already entering the atmosphere!”

Lance cried intensely. “Forgive me… you we’re right. I’m stupid.”

“No!” Keith also had the choked voice. “Forget everything I told you! Just get out of there! Please!”

“… It’s too late.” The ground trembled, and Lance understood what it meant. “Keith… I’m scared.”

“Lance! Please…” Keith spotted the base again, but the las thing he heard from Lance was a gasp.

“Lance!!!” He cried with all his might, while the entire base was shining. A sphere of light took the place of the Galra base, and the wave of the explosion managed to reach Keith. The last thing he saw was an intense light…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

 

Keith woke up suddenly, he was in the Castle, with Shiro and Allura at his side. He sat down, he seemed to be on the ground. Shiro spoke to him, but Keith couldn’t hear him. He also saw Allura move her lips, but he didn’t hear her voice. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, until he remembered…

“…Lance.” That was the first thing he said. He looked at Shiro and the Princess, both with a disconsolate expression. “Where is Lance?”

Allura looked at Shiro, she put her hand to her mouth and walked away from them. Shiro closed his eyes and cried. Keith was confused.

“Where is Lance!?” He asked again. Shiro took a deep breath and put his hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Keith- Lance, he…” Shiro took a breath again. “…He did not survive.”

Keith went blank.

“…Pidge and Hunk have-” He cleared his throat. “They’ve been looking for his- They’ve been looking for two hours, but… there’s nothing left.”

Keith couldn’t believe it, he didn’t want to believe it. He stood up abruptly.

“I must look for Lance.”

“Keith…”

“I must find Lance!” He shouted. Keith tried to get out of there, but Shiro stopped him. The boy struggled and shouted. “I must save him! I must go and save him!” He shouted, until Shiro embraced him and they both fell to their knees. Keith responded to the hug, crying, like everyone else…


	9. Days Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins are trying their best to move forward after Lance's demisse. It seems to be hard, but Hunk's about to prove that it's possible. But Allura thinks something else.

**Chapter 9:**

**“Days Later”**

Keith woke up suddenly. He had no idea of the hour, he almost never cared about that, he just wanted to know how much he had been able to sleep that night. He rubbed his eyes and turned to the wall. He hugged himself and closed his eyes. He saw Lance in dreams. First he saw him happy, right there in the Castle, chatting with the others. But when Keith tried to get closer, the scenario changed, Lance laying on the ground, hurt and motionless. Suddenly he thought he heard his voice. Minutes later Keith got up. He could not go back to sleep, so he decided to leave his room. The lights of the Castle were still low, so it was still "bedtime." Keith went silently to Lance's room.

Hunk asked to be made a kind of altar. He wanted there to be a space in the Castle in honor of Lance, to remember him. That place was his room. Pidge and Hunk searched for hours in the rubble of Orion Prime, the base was completely destroyed and there was a huge hole in the ground, but they found nothing. There was no body, not even his armor appeared, so the only thing left of him was what remained in the castle: his clothes, his stuff, and the Red Lion. They prepared his usual clothes: jacket, shirt, pants and shoes, all clean and folded perfectly. This was left on the bed, next to his music player and other belongings. Also a hologram; It was the last picture he had taken, in it he was with Pidge and Hunk making funny faces.

When Keith arrived he found Pidge, sitting cross-legged on the floor watching the picture, and Hunk, lying on his stomach next to her. No one was surprised.

“Can’t sleep either?” She asked him.

Keith nodded, came in and sat next to her. The three looked at the photograph. For several minutes there was no sound, until Hunk sobbed. "I'm sorry," he said, trying to control himself. "I'm sorry, it's ... I still miss him.”

“It’s okay, Hunk," Pidge said ruefully. "You're not the only one.”

Then the door opened again.

“You know we should sleep, right?” Said Shiro.

“Wanna join us?” Said the girl. Shiro entered and sat next to Keith. Shiro knew that no matter how much they missed Lance, they were still Paladins of Voltron, and they must be prepared for anything. They had to rest, but this time, neither was he willing. He felt the same as them.

Suddenly Hunk started laughing, and surprised everyone.

“What’ss so funny?” Asked Pidge.

Hunk, still with tears in his eyes, looked at her amused. "Don’t you realize? The four of us, in night clothes, after bedtime. It's a sleepover.” Due to the expectant looks of his companions he continued. “It’s nothing. I just thought about how much Lance would’ve loved to have a sleepover.”

After a while in silence, the thought came to Pidge, who smiled. "Do you think he would have wanted us to play ‘Truth or Challenge’?”

"No," Hunk said. "Well, maybe. It is more likely a pillow fight.”

“Maybe ‘hide and seek’.”

"I like it, but maybe he would’ve been lost at the Castle in the dark.”

Shiro joined the conversation. "It will sound ridiculous, but I think he would have wanted to show us how to take care of our skin.”

“Surely! With all those creams and rare essences that he used.” Hunk said cheerfully.

For a long time, they kept thinking about the possibilities of having a sleepover with Lance, instead of mourning his absence. What they would’ve done, what they would’ve said. Until eventually the night overcame them all, except Keith. He was still awake, seeing Lance's things, because in his mind he couldn’t stop imagining what he would have suffered in his last moments. Keith remembered his voice when the last thing he said was "I'm afraid" and Keith knew, or thought, that his death had been his fault. As a Leader, and as a friend, he had failed him.

Without realizing it, he fell asleep at last.

...

 

The next day there was no Galra activity, nor news of the Sword of Marmora. It seemed that the entire Universe knew of the loss, and that allowed the Paladins to rest. But Keith knew that this could not be. Nobody in the Universe could know that a Paladin was missing again, if the rumor reached Galra ears, they would soon attack. No matter how guilt he felt, or the pain caused by the incident, they couldn’t lower their guard.

When they gathered to eat, Keith broke the silence of the room, revealing what he had been thinking.

"Hey," all eyes glued to him, "I've been thinking about something. I think...” He knew what would happen when he said that, but they had no option “I think we should look for a Paladin for the Red Lion.”

Everyone looked at him in surprise, and as Keith expected, the response was not entirely welcome.

“What!” Pidge shouted. "Are you serious?"

"Yes" he said firmly, "very serious.”

“No!” Said the princess. "I mean, we still can’t.”

“Allura, you better than anyone else know that we can’t lower our guard. We need Voltron, and we cannot form it if we lack a Paladin.”

“Is that the only thing that matters to you, right?” Pidge demanded. She was the most disturbed. “You just want to be the hero, don’t you? It's only been four days since Lance died!”

“Yes! Four days where we could have found Lotor, or Haggar, or anything else!” Pidge was silent. “Pidge, what would we have done?”

"Well, well... I do not know." Her voice broke, and she cried again. Hunk, sitting next to her, approached and gave her a hug.

“So what?” Hunk asked. "We're only going through the Universe saying, _do you want to be a Paladin of Voltron_?"

“Of course not. I thought that I could go back to the Red Lion, since I was its Paladin at the beginning. And Shiro could regain control of the Black Lion. I know it's not easy, but it's something we should do.”

Shiro broke the silence. "It seems the most logical.”

Pidge still didn’t like the idea. It hurt her that they were thinking of replacing Lance, as it hurt Shiro's disappearance some time ago. But she didn’t argue anymore. She was silent and controlled her crying. Hunk just nodded. Although he also felt pain, he knew it was the right thing to do.

Coran looked at Allura. "Princess, what do you say?

“I…” Allura could not accept it, not yet, and she only looked at them all in anguish “I don’t-” she suddenly stood up “I'm sorry, I can’t talk now. Excuse me” and she retired. ‘ _I'm running out of time’_ , she thought as she left.

...

The mood remained until dinner, when Allura reappeared. The Paladin problem for the Red Lion was not mentioned again. In fact, at first they did not talk about anything. They remained silent for a long time. Until Hunk came up with a great idea. It was very risky, everyone's mood was on the floor, and what he was about to do could make things worse. But if he didn’t try, Hunk thought, they would be known as the Paladins of Sadness. So he took the initiative. Hunk passed his spoon for the blue dough of his plate, took it as a projectile and aimed at Shiro, then at Keith, then at Coran, who would be ideal to start a food fight? He decided on Keith. Hunk used the spoon as a catapult, and threw the food to Keith.

Keith, who was lost in his thoughts reacted immediately when a projectile of food hit him in the chest. He looked around alertly, at the surprised looks of everyone except Hunk, who looked away and began to whistle. He was the responsible one. Keith didn’t bother, fortunately, in fact, he smiled at Hunk, took food with his spoon and also threw it. But his aim failed, and he actually hit Pidge. Keith immediately regretted what he did.

“What's wrong with you?” She shouted.

“Yeah!” Said Hunk, following the game. "What's the matter with you, Keith?” And then he threw another food projectile, which hit his cheek.

Hunk mocked, and then a projectile of food hit him in the head. It was Shiro “Hey! Don’t shoot Keith.”

Then Shiro received a projectile from Pidge “Don’t shoot Hunk!”

“Hey, don't shoot Shiro”! Said Keith, who tried another shot.

Coran stood up with his plate in his hands. “Please! How old are you gentlemen?”

Then a projectile of food hit him in the face. It came from Allura “Not enough.” She said laughing.

“Oh yeah?!” Coran took spoonfuls and started throwing them all.

In response, everyone stood up, and started throwing food. Until they left the spoons and only took the food with their hands. They did it until the food was over, and even so, they took food from the floor and walls, and they threw it again.

…

 

Hunk's plan had worked, he managed to make everyone laugh, and forget for a moment the sad reality. When they finished laughing, nobody complained about what had just happened, and together they cleaned the dining room. After that, they went to clean up. The night had ended well, the first of four that had passed sad and mourning. What had just happened showed that it was possible to move forward. But someone believed there was another option.

Shiro was going to his room when a voice stopped him.

“Shiro?” He turned, and found the Princess.

“Allura? What's going on?”

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

It seemed very important. “Of course.”

“Please follow me.”

Allura started walking slowly, and Shiro walked beside her. Suddenly she spoke.

“Throughout the Universe, there are many beings who admire the power of Voltron. They believe that he is only a machine, and that we Paladins are the ones who achieve everything. Voltron is not a machine, it is a unique and powerful being, made up of five Lions, equally powerful and unique, each with its own intelligence, its own power, and its own mind. They are the ones who choose their Paladins, and in doing so they create an inexplicable link. One so deep, that the minds of Paladin and Lion become one. Thus they share their abilities, their skills, their thoughts and their feelings, one is able to feel the same as the other.”

"With all due respect, Princess, why are you telling me this?

They kept walking, until they reached the Red Lions' hangar. Allura stopped at the center of the place.

“In our last battle with Zarkon, when we thought we lost you, the Black Lion felt it too. The Lion temporarily went out, because she knew that her Paladin had disappeared. And the Lion refused to turn on again, until she felt her new Paladin. Keith. Do you understand what I mean?”

“I think so. That link between the Black Lion and I was broken, which left it inactive. Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because if I am right, then there is something that doesn’t fit.”

“What thing?”

“If that link is so strong, if the Lions really feel the loss of their Paladins, tell me, why is the Red Lion still active?”

Shiro turned to see it, apparently he hadn’t gone to the hangar in those days, and if he had, he did not realize that the Red Lion's shield was activated, which meant no one could enter, except for its Paladin.

“I came to see her from the first day, and since then she is like that. Waiting. If Lance is- If Lance is gone, why the Red Lion hasn’t deactivated in the same way? I don’t think the five Lions will react the same, or that the link is the same, but at least I would expect the Red Lion to allow us to choose a new Paladin. It’s protecting itself. Shiro, what I'm about to say is as probable as it is improbable, and it's not a certainty either, but I've thought about it enough.”

Shiro thought he understood, and feared what he was about to hear.

“Shiro, I think Lance is still alive... and we abandoned him.”

Shiro looked at the Red Lion with anguish.


	10. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Allura tell to the others what they think about Lance, so they can make a decision.

**Chapter 10:**

**“Hope”**

“Say that again!” Asked Pidge.

Shiro thought it would be better to talk with others about what Allura thought in the morning. It would be better to sleep and rest a bit, before shaking everyone again. However, Shiro couldn’t sleep that night, his mind was spinning about the matter. It was possible that Allura was just refusing to accept the incident, and was fooling herself. That she just wanted to believe that Lance was coming back safe and sound. But, what if she was right? What if all this time he was still alive?

In the morning he and Allura gathered them all in the room, and told them. Shiro and Allura were standing, next to her, Coran, Pidge and Hunk sitting on the couch, and Keith leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Allura sighed. “I have reasons, though not enough, to believe that Lance is not dead. His Lion, unlike ...the last time.” She looked at Shiro. “It has not been deactivated, it’s only in stasis. With the shields activated it’s impossible for anyone to become its Paladin.” She looked down. “I think this is because he's still alive, and the Red Lion knows it.”

“But-” Hunk said, “It doesn’t make much sense. Don’t get me wrong, I want to believe what you're saying, but if Lance is really alive, shouldn’t the Red Lion have tried to rescue him already? I mean, we all remember how many times it went to the aid of Keith, why would Lance be different?”

“Hunk is right.” Said Coran. “The link with the Lion should be strong enough. The Lion could have done something.”

Shiro spoke. “On the other hand, when we met the Lions for the first time, their shields were activated. Maybe it's automatic. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything after all.”

“And what if it does?” Asked Pidge. “What if the Lion really knows he's alive, but can’t help him? What if he was captured by the Galra?”

Hunk supported her. “That could explain why he hadn’t contacted us yet, and why we didn’t find him after the explosion.”

“But if he's not there,” said Coran, “then he could be anywhere. It would be much more difficult to find him. Only The Blade of Marmora could locate him.”

“We must go back to the planet!” Said Pidge. “Maybe he's there, we could follow his trail, and the Red Lion could guide us!”

“Pidge, I don’t think it's that easy.” Said Shiro.

“It is! We just have to-” She stopped. She relaxed a little and settled into the couch. “Maybe you're right. I’m sorry.”

“I think,” said Hunk, looking at her, “that we could go to the planet to take a look. That’s all. At least that's how we’d know if he really is still there or not.”

Allura looked at Shiro, and then she looked at Keith, who was still with his arms crossed, head down and his eyes closed.

“Keith, you haven’t expressed your opinion, and I would like to hear it.” She said, as pleading.

Keith looked up and looked at everyone. He had to ponder his response, after all, it was him, who suggested moving forward without Lance. He asked a question that nobody had asked.

“Lance was there. I heard him, he talked to me just before the explosion, I... I couldn’t help him. I'm sure he didn’t get out of there. Now, let's say you're right, and he's alive, how? We know that he didn’t board a cruise ship, nor did one arrive later. We stayed there all day. So, what saved his life, Allura?”

Allura clasped her hands and looked down.

“The Dark Quintessence.”

“What?” Pidge asked, startled.

“Since Lance mentioned it the first time, I've been looking for information about it. Most of our history was erased along with my father's memory, and it has been difficult, but I’ve found something. It seems that the Dark Quintessence has its origin in an ancient "Dark Planet". There is little I could find, but it seems that this Quintessence is the same that allowed Zarkon to resuscitate, and it is what has kept him alive so long. Unfortunately, I still don’t have all the missing pieces, and all these are just random ideas.”

"So," Keith said. "If Lance were alive, there would be a risk that he would be-"

“What I mean is that, he was in a lot of contact with the Dark Quintessence, maybe enough to keep him safe. If we find him in time, I can heal him.”

Keith thought it over. He couldn’t deny that he wanted Lance to come back, Keith wanted at least to say that he regretted having failed him. If he was still alive, he could amend it. But what Allura said was also a risk. They didn’t know the Dark Quintessence at all, so nobody could know the side effects of a resurrection, or if it was possible. It wasn’t even accurate what they were assuming.

“I think-” He stopped a few seconds. “I say we must go back. It's true, all this is just a theory. We have no idea what Dark Quintessence is capable of doing. But if there is at least a chance to find out what happened to Lance, I'll take it, no matter how minimal it may be. Voltron has brought hope to the Universe, how could we continue to do so, if we don’t believe in ourselves?”

Without realizing it, a tear had left his eyes. No other word was said. It seemed that everyone agreed with him.

“Coran, let's go back to Orion Prime.”

“Right away Princess.” Coran immediately retired.

...

 

Keith stopped in front of the Red Lion. Indeed, the shield was active. He placed his hand on the shield and closed his eyes. Nothing. Keith closed his eyes more tightly.

“Come on, Red. You and I were connected. If you know something... please...”

Keith stayed that way for a while, but finally gave up. He looked up at the Lion. The shield was still active.

“Do you believe it, that he is alive?” Keith asked suddenly, without turning back. Allura approached him.

“I want to believe it.”

Keith withdrew his hand. “Do you think we are doing the right thing?”

The princess thought she understood what he meant, since when did they follow a simple hunch? Making that trip not only made them vulnerable to any Galra attack, it also proved that Voltron's greatest strength was his greatest weakness. Allura suffered the death of his father, and the loss of the first Voltron Paladins, but this new sensation was different. She not only considered Lance a great friend, and a good Paladin, she also considered him a family. That was their greatest strength, they all worked as one, took care of themselves and gave their best for everyone.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“Everyone on this ship count on me. In us. Not only as a team leader, but also as a friend. They had never trusted me so much before, and that’s why I fear now. And if we are wrong? What if I fail everyone?” Keith turned to her. Allura thought for a few seconds. Finally she smiled

“My heart tells me that he is there.” She placed her hand on her chest. “It also tells me not to give up. And for me, that's the right thing to do. What does your heart say Keith?”

Keith looked down, as if expecting to see his heart come out of his chest and talk to him. Then he looked at her again. He saw her smile and understood that she trusted him, that she believed like him, and that she wouldn’t abandon him.

“I've never been good at listening, you know? But this time…”

“Yes?”

“I know we're going to find him.” Keith smiled determinedly. Trusted.

“That is called hope.”

She gave him a hug. Finally they returned to the bridge.


	11. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins head back to the planet where they lost Lance, hoping to find him. If they find him everything will be fine, but what if they don't?

**Chapter 11:**

**“Reunion”**

The hangar doors opened. Coran landed the castle on the surface of the planet, a few kilometers from the site of the explosion, just in case. The Paladins came out in two teams: Allura and Pidge would look for Lance through the air in their respective Lions, while Keith, Shiro and Hunk would do it by land, on vehicles similar to the ATVs from Earth. As soon as the castle landed, the Paladins left and went to the site where the Galra base once stood. Coran remained on the ship. He would use the castle's integrated tracker to help the Paladins.

" _Indeed_ ," said Coran from the bridge, “ _there is no trace of radiation, no sign of heat. It’s clear.”_

At the hangar, Keith put on his helmet. “Then let’s go”. He said decisively, he started the vehicle and left at full speed. Shiro and Hunk followed him, and the Lions flew over them.

The planet was still as desert and rocky as last time, except for the remains of Galra ships scattered across the terrain. Black clouds covered the sky to the west, and the light of a sun from the east was already hiding. Suddenly they saw it. A huge circular hole in the earth, and in the center the remains of the Galra base.

“We’ll start here”, said Keith. “Pidge, Allura, look around.”

“Understood.” Said Allura. She and Pidge flew away.

Keith went into the hole, there they split up again. Hunk went to holes made in the earth, similar to caverns. Shiro came across an aperture that led to underground corridors, maybe they had been drainage or hidden passages. Keith went to the center of the hole, where the explosion happened.

He stopped his vehicle and got off. First he saw with surprise the damage caused by the Galra. If there had been plants and animals, nothing would have been saved for miles around. Keith focused, and began to lift the pieces of metal from the floor. Lance could be found down there.

Pidge came down from the Lion. She felt dismayed. She knew what the chances were of not finding him, and that worried her. She was afraid that all her effort would be in vain. She removed the visor, put his hands over her mouth and shouted his name. “Lance!”

She waited.

She shouted again. “Laaance!”

Hunk leaned to the surface, and followed Pidge's example. Within minutes, everyone was calling Lance.

Keith was still picking up debris, when he found a hole that allowed him access to a corridor at the base, in very bad condition. He was encouraged to enter. There was only darkness, and the lantern of his suit barely allowed him to see where he was going. He walked low, the roof collapsed. He couldn’t see clearly, but he kept walking. Suddenly there was a rock wall blocking the tunnel, and Keith was forced to retreat. On his way back he saw an open door, he came and looked inside. It was a complete disaster. Nothing was saved, and the rocks didn’t allow him to see more than glass, metal and dirt, except... Keith gasped.

…

“ _Guys, I found something_.” Keith said. They gathered in the center of the explosion and waited for him to come out. When he did, he showed what he found underground: Lance's helmet.

They looked with surprise and horror, not with hope. It was dirty and dented, its visor was broken and had blood stains. Nobody said a single word for a few moments.

“ _Paladins? Are you alright?”_ asked Coran, noticing the silence.

"We're fine, Coran," Keith said discouraged.

Hunk sadly took the helmet and looked at it closely. “This... this could be a good thing, right?”

“How can it be something good?” Pidge exclaimed.

“Well, it's just-” he looked at the helmet again, then at Keith. He was afraid to ask. He cleared his throat. “Where is the rest?”

“I don’t know,” Keith said, "that's all I found." There was disappointment in his eyes.

“Then there is a possibility that he has escaped.” Allura said.  “At least, this shows us that he survived.” Everyone looked at her, almost without believing.

“Oh yeah?” Asked Pidge. “Then where is he? We've been here twenty minutes and there's no sign of him.”

“Maybe he's not around anymore,” Shiro said. “The only thing that proves this is that he could’ve moved, which also means we are just like we started.

“All this…” said Pidge. “It can’t be in vain.” She look at the others for support.

At first, Keith felt frustration, and then sadness. But now he felt that something was not right. How could Lance have lost his helmet? And nothing more.

“Coran, can you look for any trace of heat around us?”

“ _Sure_.” He replied, and immediately typed. The castle issued a signal to locate heat signals. A few minutes passed. _“I- I'm sorry, but there's nothing. We are the only living beings on this planet.”_

Keith looked down. “I'm sorry.” He said to everyone. “I should’ve never-”

“ _Wait!_ ” Coran exclaimed suddenly. _“I see something! It is behind you, but far away.”_

“Is it Lance?” Asked Pidge.

_“I don’t think so, it's very big. Wait, it's moving towards you!”_

On the screen in front of Coran, a huge white dot became visible, and indeed, whatever it was, it was heading towards the Paladins. On land, they spotted a purple light that came from the black clouds in the sky. The light soon became an object that was heading towards them.

“Let's move on!” Keith exclaimed. “Allura, Pidge, stop it!”

The boys climbed into their vehicles to get out of the hole, Keith carrying Lance's helmet on one arm. Pidge and Allura went up to their Lions, and flew in the direction of whatever was following them.

“I cannot identify what it is!” Said Pidge. "I don’t think it's a Robeast, but it doesn’t seem to be friendly either.

The object was approaching. It had no shape, it was only a sphere of light and it was almost as big as the Lions, and just a few meters away from them, two limbs made of the same violet energy emerged from the sides of the object, they flapped like wings, and the object passed over the Lions.

“It’s coming for you!” Cried Allura. “Be careful!”

“It’s not coming for us!” Shiro exclaimed. In fact, the creature ignored them completely. “Coran, it goes for the castle! Activate the shields!”

Coran did it, even before Shiro finished speaking. The shields were already activated when the beast rose in the sky and suddenly plummeted towards the castle. Coran, and the others were sure that this thing would collide with the barrier. But they were wrong. Unexpectedly, the beast crossed the barrier. The castle shook sharply, and Coran fell to the ground, and then everything went dark. The castle had run out of power, communications had been cut off, and there was no light.

...

“Coran!” Keith shouted, but he didn’t receive an answer. Allura also called him, but there was no response.

“The thing crossed the barrier!” Pidge exclaimed. "How is that possible?"

“Let's hurry to find out!” Said Keith, accelerating.

They approached the castle, the object had fallen directly towards it and had passed through, and however, there was not a single fissure, actually. The castle was intact. The Paladins hurried to enter. Fortunately, the hangar doors were still open. As they entered, communications returned.

“ _Paladins! Can you hear me?”_ Coran asked.

“Loud and clear!” Exclaimed Allura, relieved. “What was that?”

_“I don’t know princess, but whatever it is, it went through the barrier and the walls of the castle. Apparently it’s surrounded by a powerful electromagnetic force, it left the castle without energy, but it is temporary, the energy will return in three doboshes at most.”_

Keith and the others entered another corridor, next to the Lions' hangar. He was just getting out of his vehicle when he caught a glimpse of a moving figure even darker than the room. Keith looked immediately, he couldn’t see anything, but he was sure of what he saw.

"There's someone here." he said seriously.

“What do you say?” Hunk asked. But Keith didn’t answer, he took his Bayard and held his sword, and moved at a rapid pace down the corridor. He reached the Lions' hangar, just as Pidge and Allura descended.

“What happens?” Allura asked.

“There is an intruder,” said Keith, as he began to look around cautiously. He knew that they were not alone. Suddenly an intense light illuminated the place, it was the shield of the Red Lion that had activated again. At the feet of the Lion there was a humanoid figure, who covered his eyes due to the glow. Keith did not hesitate, ran to the figure and lashed out at him. He nudged him, and threw him a few meters away.

“ _Paladins!_ ” Said Coran. “ _The lights will come back in three... two... one...”_

The castle lights came back, the room lit up. Keith took up the battle stance, ready to face whatever had sneaked into the castle. However, he gasped and dropped the sword when there was light. He took off his helmet, to confirm that what he was seeing was real. Right in front of him, on the floor, there was Lance.

His armor damaged, he had head injuries, and he was very dirty. But it was him. He was alive.

The others stopped behind Keith and looked with the same expression: amazement, disbelief, was it an illusion? A trap?

Lance looked up with difficulty. His limbs barely supported him and his gaze was blurry. At first he only distinguished colors.

Nobody said anything. It was Lance who broke the silence

“…Keith?” And said that, he fell unconscious.

...

As soon as the shock passed, everyone rushed to attend to Lance. They carefully removed his armor, and immediately took him to the capsules. Apparently he had some fractures, wounds still bleeding like the one of his head and serious bruises. But nothing more. His friends were around his capsule looking at him, it was hard to believe that three days ago they wanted to believe that he was still alive and they expected to see him back, and now they had him there.

Finally Pidge asked the question everyone had in mind. “How is that possible? I mean his status. Don’t get me wrong, but I expected to find him in worse shape.”

Nobody could answer.

“Everyone saw it, right?” Hunk asked. “That thing that flew over us and went through the castle, it was Lance.”

“We don’t know for sure!” Keith exclaimed.

“Oh, of course yes! We all saw that light, Coran detected the heat signal. That thing went through the castle, and suddenly here he is. I don’t have the slightest doubt.”

“But it still doesn’t make sense,” said Allura. “How did Lance survive the destruction of the base? The power of the explosion was so great that it devastated everything around him. Then Lance was not inside the base.”

“Of course he was!” Keith shouted. “I told you, I heard it when he was dying!”

“And still,” said Pidge, “here he is, denying you.”

Keith and Pidge looked at each other warily.

“Princess,” Shiro asked, “you told us that Lance had been exposed to Dark Quintessence, and you suspected that this probably intervened in this situation, do you think that's what we just witnessed?”

Allura looked down, sighed. “I do not know. I had never seen anything like this. I passed aside him, and it wasn’t Lance. It was something else. Bigger and voluptuous. As I passed by I clearly felt energy, I felt its strength. It was something alive.” She looked at Lance and put her hand on the glass. “What comes to mind is, maybe Lance produced that energy from somewhere, or it somehow adhered to him, but now that he is here, I don’t feel anything. The only spark of Quintessence that I feel is his, and it’s very weak.”

“I'm afraid then,” said Hunk, "that all we can do is wait for him to wake up, right?"

"Actually," said Coran, "this blackout temporarily disabled some functions of the castle, fortunately the capsules work at almost one hundred percent capacity. There is nothing else we can do.”

"Good," Keith said. "I'll stay and take care of him.”

"Keith," said Shiro, approaching him. "It's not-"

“Please. I want to be here.”

Shiro nodded. And the others had no choice but to agree with him. Pidge was still confused, but when she left, Allura called her.

“Pidge, could you help me?”

“Um, of course, what is it?”

“Do you still have the crystals of Quintessence?”

“Of course, what about them?”

“I would like you to help me with an experiment. I want to know if that energy is capable of transferring from one body to another.”

Pidge nodded, and together they went to the lab.

Keith remained standing in front of Lance. For a long time he did nothing else, until he bent his head on the glass and dropped to his knees. He rested his hands on the capsule and sighed. “I'm sorry,” he said almost in a whisper. “I'm sorry, I should have... I...” He sighed again and looked up at Lance. Right now, he just seemed to be asleep. Keith smiled. “Glad to have you back.”

...

Allura hoped that Lance would recover in a day, but three days later, there was still tension. It seemed that they had actually recovered only Lance's body, but not his soul. Everyone knew that he was alive, but unconscious and until they saw him move, or hear his voice again they would know that he had returned. Hunk stayed with Keith the first day, Shiro the second, and Pidge the third, in which they fixed things between them.

Allura checked with Pidge, that the nature of the crystals was to grant energy, whatever the situation was. Using a single fragment of the crystal, Pidge's computer, and other devices of the castle worked to the maximum of their power, and the battery lasted twice as often. In addition, one of the mice became ill, was given one of the crystals, and recovered incredibly quickly. Thus, Allura concluded that perhaps Lance was so in touch with the Dark Quintessence that he himself could have been kept alive. But they still didn’t know what that thing that went through the castle was. If it had been Lance himself, then all that energy would have been exhausted and there would be no problems, but what if not?

His capsule opened before the end of the third day.

He kept his eyes closed when he fell forward and was held by Hunk. Lance barely opened his eyes, and looked around. It took a few moments, but finally he recognized Hunk, then Pidge.

“…What…?” He asked. Then he saw Shiro and Coran. After Allura, and then to Keith. “Am I dead?”

The question bothered everyone, and they did nothing but look at each other.

“Of course not!” Hunk finally said. “You're safe.”

Lance was still supported by Hunk, he looked at him, and as if he had just woken up, which was actually true, Lance recognized his best friend. He opened his eyes wider and straightened. “Hunk? Is it really you?” Then he looked at all of them again “You all are really here? Wait, where am I?”

“We are in the castle, currently aimlessly.” Shiro said. “How do you feel?”

“Honestly, I feel very tired. I just want to go to sleep.” Lance was distracted by his thoughts and put his hand to his head, where he suffered the blow earlier. “What happened? Why are we here?”

“What are you talking about?” Asked Pidge. "You don’t remember?"

"No," Lance looked at her confused, looked at the others. "What happened?"

“Why don’t you eat first?” Keith said suddenly, “I guess you're very hungry.”

Lance looked at him a little confused. “Well, yes. A little. But the truth is, I would like to sleep first.”

"Then let me take you to your room," Hunk said with a smile, and walked beside him out of the room.

“He has to know.” Said Allura.

“He'll know.” Keith said. “Just give him time.”

Although it was brief, everyone felt much better when they heard him speak. They were already sure that this was all happening. It seemed that things could finally go back to normal.


	12. Welcome back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the last difficult days, things seem to go back to normal. With Lance safe and sound, the Paladins will try to recover the wasted time. But something is not right.

**Chapter 12:**

**“Welcome back”**

Lance moved on his bed. Then he heard a voice that said “He’s waking up,” so he opened his eyes lazily.

“Good morning!” Lance saw Hunk’s face above of him. He was sitting next to his bed. “Though technically it’s not good morning anymore, good afternoon, maybe? Or good night?

“Hunk?” said Lance. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“Hi buddy, how do you feel?”

“Better.” Lance sat down, then was surprised when he saw Keith leaning against the wall with his arms folded. “Keith? What are you doing here?”

Keith smiled. “What you think?”

“We've been taking care of you,” Hunk said. “Pidge was also with us, but she just left, do you want to eat something?”

“Sure.” Said Lance.

Once he had changed his clothes, they took him to the dining room where he found Shiro and Coran again. Pidge was there. Although, Allura wasn’t. Coran took care of keeping her a plate of food. They ate and chatted without haste, after all they did not want to burden Lance, not after everything that had happened.

In fact, none of them could stop thinking about what happened. Everyone wanted to ask him the same question: How had he managed to survive? They were glad to know he was alive, of course. They were relieved to see him eat, talk, laugh and walk as if nothing, but the doubt was still there. Even so, they didn’t want to hurry. That Lance didn’t remember what happened could be a good thing.

“So,” said Lance, once he chewed the last piece of food. “Can anyone tell me how I ended up in a capsule?” Lance looked at all of them, but no one answered him. They just looked at each other in silence. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. It was just a question.

“It’s-” Hunk said. “It’s not that we don’t want to tell you, it’s- We just don’t want you to worry about that.” He forced himself to smile.

“Yes! That’s it!” Pidge said. “There are more important things right now, like to remember the bad times.”

Lance knew they were hiding something from him, but he decided to leave it that way. “Okay, you win. If it’s not important, I guess it’s okay.” He took a sip of his drink. Suddenly he shuddered.

“What is it?” Keith asked.

“It’s nothing,” said Lance, looking down. “It was just a chill… I suddenly feel…” He paused for a moment. Then he looked up smiling as always. “I feel like I want to see the Red Lion! What do you say? Let’s go fly a little!”

Lance looked determined. The other Paladins shared looks. Pidge spoke while moving her glasses. “I think it’s too early for you to go out and fly. Although, on the other hand, reestablishing your connection with your Lion could help improve your health.”

“What a good idea! Shiro, don’t you want to join us?” Hunk asked.

“Even if I still piloted the Black Lion, I wouldn’t go. I'll go find Allura, see if she needs help with anything.”

“You miss it! What are we waiting for? Let's go!” Lance got up immediately. And stopped at the door. Pidge and Hunk also got up.

“Come on, Keith!” Hunk called him.

He looked at Shiro. “Go with them. Take care of them for me, okay?” Shiro said winking. Keith returned a smile.

He was going to get up when Lance arrived and took him by the arm. “Quick, you take a lot!” He ran, and stumbled Keith away.

…

The Paladins put on their armor and went to their Lions, but Lance stopped Keith.

“Wait. I need to ask you something.” He looked at Pidge and Hunk. “Go ahead, see you outside.”

Once they were alone, Lance looked down.

“Lance?”

“Keith, I know you wouldn’t lie to me. You go straight to the point. So-” Lance looked at him. “Could you please tell me what happened to me?” Keith hesitated. “It's okay! Don’t say it. At least I would like to know, how serious it was. Please.”

Keith really wanted to confess, and at the same time he didn’t. Finally he came over and put his hands on Lance's shoulders. “As you've heard, it's not the time to talk about that. But I want you to know that I was scared.” Lance opened his eyes as much as he could, he was surprised. “Yes, that's true. I... I felt so helpless, so... unable to help you-” He paused, then cleared his throat. “I'm relieved to see you safe and sound.” Keith stepped back, smiling at Lance.

He looked at him confused, but also smiled at him. “Thank you, Keith. For, whatever you've done.” Lance shuddered again, and a surge of energy seized him. He stood up enthusiastically. “Let's go then! Keith, come on!”

 

Lance ran down the hall. Then he came back and motioned for Keith to follow him, and since he had no choice, Keith went after him. When they reached the Red Lion's hangar, Lance stopped in confusion and looked at Keith. “What's the matter with the Lion?”

“We believe that the Lion had detected that you were in danger, and decided to protect itself. But you shouldn’t worry, since you are here everything will be as before.”

Lance looked back at the Lion and hurried toward it. He stopped in front of the shield and put his hand down. “Okay, now!” Lance waited. And he waited, and he waited, and he waited... but he realized that the shield didn’t yield, and he touched it again. “Come on! Lion, it's me!” He said hopefully. But nothing happened. Then Lance was worried. “Lion? What’s wrong? Please!” Lance pressed hard, and then hit the shield.

Keith was behind Lance, and pulled him away when he started hitting. “Lance, calm down!”

“Keith, what's happening?! Why it doesn’t let me in?” Lance looked at the Red Lion with despair. And Keith looked at him worried.

“Lance, maybe you still need to rest. You still lack strength for the Lion to reconnect with you. You just need time.” Lance looked at him, and a clear sadness showed on his face.

“Maybe you're right.” Lance spun around and started to walk, but he staggered and Keith had to hold him to keep him from falling.

“You see?” He said as he picked him up. “You must still rest.”

Lance rubbed his head again. “Perhaps”, he said disappointed.

“Don't worry, I'll tell Pidge and Hunk. But first I will accompany you.”

“It's not necessary Keith. I can walk alone. I’ll go to the common room.”

Lance walked away very slowly. Keith was worried about him, but for now there was nothing else he could do for him.

...

The bridge door opened, and Allura entered. She advanced to the central monitor, typed and a screen appeared on it. She waited. Then Kolivan's face appeared.

“Princess Allura.” He greeted, in his own way.

"Kolivan," she answered. "You were able to find what I asked?”

“I was. Right now I am sending all the information we could collect. I hope it's enough.”

“Very well. Thank you.”

"Princess," he said. "You must have guessed, but if this is true, you must be careful. We do not know exactly what it is capable of.”

“I know, Kolivan. We'll be in contact.”

Kolivan nodded, and then went offline. By then, Allura had already received a data transfer. When she opened it, she discovered writings from Altea, some were from King Alfor himself, and also records from the Galra, written by Zarcon himself thousands of years ago.

…


	13. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not ready yet, his friends finally tell Lance what happened to him a few days ago, but he misunderstands and believes something else.

**Chapter 13:**

**“The Truth”**

Lance was frustrated, sitting on the couch, resting his head on his hand. Keith was by his side arms crossed, angry. Next to him was Pidge, and finally Hunk. There were three piles of cards on a table in front of them.

"Very well, it's my turn," Hunk said. He picked up a card and rubbed his chin and said, "It's a yellow animal. It’s big. And their main source of food are the Dribbs. Keith, what is it?”

Keith did not even look at him. “I don’t know.”

“Come on, try a little harder! Lance?”

“I know, I know!” Said Pidge, raising her arm. “It's a Bluka!”

“Right!” Hunk said enthusiastically. “Another point for Pidge!"

On a holographic board, Hunk had eight points, Pidge had fourteen, Lance had five and Keith had two. “Lance, it's your turn. Take a card and ask us.”

Lance stretched and took one of the cards from the table. "Let's see, what is-” Lance stopped, he stared at his friends and saw the card again. He left it on the table. “What is... what happened to me before I woke up in the capsule?” The question took them all by surprise.

"Lance," Pidge said. "We already talked about this.”

“No! We didn’t!” Lance was so upset that he stood up. “You did the opposite! Now I want to know.”

"Lance, listen to me," Hunk said. "You have to take it easy.”

“No Hunk! I'm not going to take it easy! There is something you don’t want to tell me! Maybe you don’t care, but I do want to know! I demand to know! Why can’t I get on my Lion? Why do you keep the secret for me!? What did you do to me!?”

“Lance! Enough!” Keith yelled, getting up. Lance glared at him, but Keith kept his eyes on him. Finally Lance realized his behavior and looked at his friends. Then they both sat down again.

“Sorry. I didn’t want to shout at you, but I really need to know.”

His friends shared looks. It was Keith who spoke.

“Before, you have to promise to keep calm, okay?”

Lance nodded. Keith sighed.

“Do you remember anything about the last days?”

Lance remembered. “The truth is all is confusing. I still remember that.” He cleared his throat. “You and I argued a lot. Then we made make it up, but from then on, I only remember a Galra commander, an asteroid field or something similar and... A crystal.”

"That Galra you're talking about, was a commander who had been sent to steal solid Quintessence in form of crystals. We intercepted him a first time, and escaped. When we found it again it was in a destroyed planetoid. We thought that there would be more equal crystals, but what we found was- different.”

"That crystal was just as powerful," Hunk said, "but its composition and characteristics far outweighed everything we had seen, and its color was purple.”

“We thought it didn’t matter, until it started to upset you. Somehow, the Crystal adhered to your mind, it connected to you. It was as if, you were infected, somehow.”

"You developed a sudden need to find the Crystal," Pidge said, "and with it, the ability to track the Quintessence. That took us to the planet Orion Prime, where the commander had a large quantity of Crystals stored.”

They stopped.

“Keep going!” Lance exclaimed. "What happened next?"

“We argued. You and me,” Keith said. “I told you to stay at the Castle, that you were not feeling well. I ordered you to stay but you didn’t want to listen,” Keith seemed to be claiming, then calmed down. “We went down to the planet, to the Galra base, because we believed that the Dark Crystal would have infected you…”

Those two words echoed in Lance's mind. "Dark Crystal" repeated it several times in his mind.

“...When we arrived, the Galra had betrayed each other and the base was about to blow up. Since we couldn’t do anything else, we left. But when we returned to the castle, we discovered that you were not there.”

“...Kyrek...”

“What?”

“That was the name of the Galra... Kyrek. And I fought with him.” In his mind, Lance saw fragments of what he had just been told, but nothing was as clear as a huge purple crystal, a very bright one. “I remember the base, I remember the crystals, and I remember-” Lance stopped in dry, terrified and looked at others. “-I remember the explosion.”

Lance looked down. “The explosion... I was scared... and you-” Lance looked up, and furiously said “You guys abandoned me!”

“What?” They replied.

“That's ridiculous!” Said Pidge. "We had no idea you were there!”

“And that should make me feel better? You left me there to die!”

“That isn’t true!” Said Hunk. "You were selfish and you did not trust us! I would’ve helped you!”

“If it's someone's fault, it's yours!” Keith said. “I told you to stay at the Castle. But no, you went against me and look where it took us! You died!”

Lance wanted to argue, but he didn’t know what to say.

“How long ago was that?”

Keith closed his eyes before answering. “Five days.”

Tears welled up in his eyes. “If I died, what the hell am I doing here!? If you managed to get rid of me, why did you come back?!”

“Lance, that's not-”

“Oh yes! Yes it is! Let me guess, why did you decide to find me five days later? Guilt, remorse maybe? No, maybe you wanted to recover the armor to return to the Red Lion!”

“No!! Lance, none of that makes sense.”

“Nothing of what I say never makes sense! If it bothers you so much, you would have left me dead!!!”

A sharp pain in his temples made Lance fall to the floor.

“Lance!” They shouted. They tried to lift him, but rejected them.

“Leave me!” Lance got on his feet and stepped back. He had let himself cry. “I know why you let me die! I know you would be better without me!” I know you don’t need me! The only thing I do not know is why you came back for me!!” Lance was breathing hard. “But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

He turned and ran.

“Lance!” Keith couldn’t just stay there. I couldn’t leave things like that. Not this time.

He ran after Lance, and found him leaning against a wall, sobbing.

“Lance, please. Listen to me." He pleaded.

Lance didn’t even look at him. “Why Keith?” He said between sobs. “Why? Why did you leave me? And why did you come back?”

Keith didn’t know how to answer. Lance believed that they had let him die on purpose, and that he was alive only by mistake. Of course that was not true, but how to prove otherwise?

Since he did not answer, Lance walked again. "I knew it. I'm sorry you couldn’t get rid of me.”

Keith stretched out his hand. Maybe to stop him, but he didn’t. Keith only saw him walk away. He looked down and closed his eyes tightly. He clenched his fists in frustration, and then hit the wall hard with a scream. His breathing stirred. Until then, Keith thought he had done the right thing by looking for Lance. After all, he was alive, but with what had just happened, he was not sure that looking for him would have been a good idea.

Coran's voice brought him out of his thoughts. “Keith?”

“Coran!” Keith rubbed his eyes. “What happens?”

“Allura asks for your presence. She’s on the bridge.”

“Okay, let's go.”

...

Lance stumbled and staggered into his room. His head hurt and he wasn’t able to see well. The pain increased every second, and Lance could do nothing to stop it. Suddenly he felt a twinge in his head and fell to the ground screaming in pain. He held his temples tightly. Then a voice appeared in his mind. He didn’t understand what he was saying, but the voice was clear, grave and scratchy. The pain continued, and continued, until Lance lost consciousness...

Then he opened his eyes, which had turned purple.

...


	14. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura gathers everyone to tell them everything she has discovered about Lance and the Dark Quintessence. But the enemy has already arrived.

**Chapter 14:**

**“Revelation”**

Allura was in the center of the Bridge. Shiro, Pidge and Hunk were already there, around her, when Keith entered along with Coran.

"I thank you all for being here," said the Princess. Once they were all present.

“You’re not calling Lance?” Keith asked. Although he didn’t want to see him actually.

“Precisely, we’ll talk about Lance. And he mustn’t be here.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, and moved closer.

“I’m sorry for not having been with you the last Vargas, but I assure you that I have an explanation. I've been looking for information, as much as possible. When I first heard the words _Dark Quintessence_ , and when I detected that powerful force in the Dark Crystal, it became clear to me that there was something we were ignoring. I remembered a story that my father used to tell me when I was a child, a story to scare naughty children.”

Allura smiled wistfully and looked down. Then she straightened up and continued. “The story talked of a beast of Light and a beast of Darkness. The beast of Light always watched over the good and pure beings, and made sure they were always lucky. The beast of Darkness followed the evil beings, the miscreants and the liars, and made sure they always received their punishment.” Allura looked at each one of those present. “Why do I tell you this? It was the same as I asked myself, why do I suddenly think of an old Altean story without relevance? Or, maybe it does.”

Allura activated a panel, and on it revealed data and images she had collected.

“It was not easy to gather clear and concise information, but I discovered that the story is not exclusive to Altea, it is a legend that repeats in more than one system. Although each species and culture present variations, all coincide in a luminous being that grants life to the universe, maintains balance, and a dark being that propagates death and imbalance. These creatures are very old, prior to the creation of Voltron, and yet I have no doubt that they are creatures directly related to the Quintessence.”

Before anyone could ask, several pages of text appeared over Allura. “I was never aware, that my father, King Alfor, had investigated these creatures on his own... and found them.” On the screen two planets appeared, exactly the same, except for the white color of one, and the violet color of the other. “These are Orion Prime, and Alpha Prime. Two identical planets, located exactly at the opposite distance. Two planets made entirely of pure Quintessence.”

Hunk raised his hand slowly, not wanting to interrupt the princess “uh, how is it that _made_ of Quintessence?

"Just as it sounds, Hunk," she said. "Quintessence in a liquid, solid, and gaseous state. Plant and animal life. All made entirely of Quintessence.”

“Pardon Princess? I have a question,” said Coran, raising his hand. “How did you get this information? I mean, I remember writing some of King Alfor's diaries myself, but I never knew anything about any of this.”

Allura's expression darkened. “Because King Alfor knew all the power that Orion and Alpha Prime could bestow, and the risks of doing so. So he hid all his investigation, and kept it hidden until Zarcon stole it when he destroyed Altea. And once he discovered the planets he began with the overexploitation of the Quintessence.”

"It's me again," said Hunk, raising his hand again. “As I understood it, the two planets are equal, but at the same time opposite. So while one had good Quintessence, the other could have bad Quintessence, right? One positive and one negative. A Luminous, and another Dark, as Lance called it.”

“What does all this have to do with Lance?” Shiro asked.

“The Galra records we could find indicate that Zarcon also found Orion Prime, and immediately set up a factory to extract all possible Quintessence, concentrating it on solid energy. Crystals. And so he did for three thousand years, until he ended the life of the planet. Although there is no record of him doing it on Alpha Prime, I have no doubt he did so.”

"So," said Pidge. “That was it, Orion Prime! The desert planet we visited was once full of Quintessence. But that still doesn’t explain where the Crystal that we found comes from.”

“As I already mentioned, the whole planet was formed by Quintessence, including the living beings. Zarcon kidnapped specimens of Orion Prime, and took them to a facility away from home.”

“Why did he do it?” Hunk asked. "It wouldn’t have been easier to steal the Quintessence of these creatures on their own planet? Don’t get me wrong, I hate the idea, but it doesn’t seem logical to me.”

"No Hunk, unless he did it for protection." said Pidge.

“What do you mean?”

"Actually," said Allura. "Zarcon knew very well that the creatures could pose a threat to him as long as they were in touch with the energy of his home planet. That's why he established another extraction base.”

"We already know what happened to the planet," Shiro said, "and I suppose the ruined planetoid was the old base for extracting the creatures. What happened there?"

“The Beast.” Over Allura appeared the silhouette of a winged creature, similar to a dragon. “It took centuries, before the native creatures of the planet were able to defend themselves. The same avarice of Zarcon allowed them to evolve, although not in the best way. The creatures gained the ability to give up their physical body, transform it into energy, and thus travel through space. But being living beings, they needed to adhere to others to survive, even if their host did not support it. They became a parasite. But none became as dangerous as the Beast.” Allura turned to see the silhouette on the screen. “A creature that absorbs energy and Quintessence from others only to become stronger,” she turned to her companions. “The Galra records conclude with total extinction of the species. But obviously, it was not like that, now I have no doubt that this is what I felt when I came into contact with the Dark Crystal... it is the Beast.”

Allura finally stopped.

"So," said Hunk, "did one of these creatures destroy an entire planet?"

"Absorbing everyone's energy, and everything around him," Pidge said. "And maybe using it against them. And that's how it became a Crystal! It was never just a Crystal! It was only his shell, a cocoon to stay alive. Until the time came to go back out.”

“And that moment came when the Galra found the Crystal. And also Lance. Now I understand what happened to him that time.”

“You do?”

“Don’t you see? When he said he had seen the Galra. That he knew where they were. It was the Beast that called him, that's what got us there... it was a trap from the beginning.” Hunk looked down. “And we fell straight into it. The Beast wanted Lance, and we gave it to him.”

Keith remembered that day, again. Lance was more than willing to go down to the planet, he wanted to do it. Although he was not well. That's why Keith would not let him accompany them, but he never imagined that Lance would act on his own. Now he understood that it was not Lance, but the Beast that made him disobey. That's what killed him. All this time, it was the Beast.

"So that was it," Coran said, "the sign of heat we found, the day we went looking for my boy. And that's what went through the castle's barriers.”

After a few moments, they didn’t know what to do. They shared looks of concern, but none seemed certain of what had to be done, now that they knew the truth.

It was Keith who broke the silence. "We already know that the Beast is in this castle, what is he looking I don’t know?” Said Hunk. “Lance? Our lives?” He said with fear.

“No!” Keith said. “Tell me, what is the biggest source of Quintessence in this castle?”

Once she understood, Allura gasped. “Voltron!”

“Look for Lance!” Keith said. "Quick!”

They all hurried out of the hangar. Coran went to the console to find Lance in the cameras of the castle. They split up, and Keith arrived first at Lance's room, and as he feared, was empty. He grunted and ran in the direction of the training room. Neither did he find it. He ran to the kitchen, where he ran into Hunk.

“You found him?” He asked. Shiro and Pidge arrived with them.

“I didn’t have luck”.

Pidge and Allura entered the room. “The Dark Crystal is gone!”

“Dammit!” Keith shouted.

 _“In the hangar of the Red Lion!”_ Said Coran through the communicator. Everyone ran to the hangar when they heard him.


	15. The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth about the Beast is finally revealed, now the Paladins must face this new menace and find the way to rescue Lance. But, as Keith will understand, do so is going to be difficult.

**Chapter 15:**

**“The Beast”**

Upon reaching the hangar, Keith stopped them and indicated that they should remain silent. They moved slowly, and in a row. Keith stopped at a corner and peeked out.

“He’s there?” Allura asked in a whisper.

“Yes.”

“What is he doing?”

“He's just standing there.” Keith took his Bayard and activated his sword.

“Are you crazy?!” Pidge said pulling his arm. “What are you trying to do?”

“That one it’s not Lance! We must be careful because we don’t know what he might be capable of. Follow me. Let’s surround him. Stay alert.”

They walked in silence, and when they all saw him they approached to corner him. The Paladins prepared their Bayards and advanced towards him. Lance was wearing his armor. He was standing with his head raised towards the Red Lion, in his right hand he held the Dark Crystal. He wasn’t moving. But he already knew they were there.

“It’s not funny?” He said. He still sounded like Lance. He didn’t bother to look at them. “It responds to orders, like a machine. But it makes its own decisions, just like a living being. It’s fascinating. So much power, so much Quintessence… so close.” He raised his left hand and placed it on the Lion’s barrier. “And still out of my reach.” There was a noticeable discomfort in his voice.

The Paladins were already very close to him. Keith ordered to stop. He held his sword tightly and walked.

“Lance?” He said, even knowing it wasn’t him. “What are you doing here?”

“I only came to appreciate my Lion. Because apparently, it’s the only thing I can do.” He answered without looking at him. There was mischief in his voice.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Said Allura. Clearly, she was referring to the Beast.

“Why not, princess? I thought you wanted me back, didn’t you come looking for me because of that?”

“Enough.” Keith said, wielding his sword. “You’re surrounded. I suggest you to step back, drop the Crystal and give up.”

“In that order?” He mocked.

“Don’t make me-”

“-What? What are you gonna do?” Lance tilted his head slightly to him and looked at him with bright purple eyes. He smiled. “Are you going to kill me, Keith? Again?”

Keith lost his concentration. His hand shook. But he didn’t give up. “No! I-”

“Don’t listen to him Keith!” Said Pidge. “He wants to confuse you!”

“Oh, dear,” said Lance, putting his hand to his mouth in surprise. “You discovered me. How smart you are.” Lance finally turns to them. “-For your size.”

“Hey!” Hunk shouted.

“Oh, sorry.” Lance feigned embarrassment. “It wasn’t my intention, Hunk. Sorry. I’ll try to compensate, I’ll do whatever it takes to make you feel better.”

Lance took a few steps forward.

“Don’t move!” Keith shouted.

“Why? Didn’t you tell me to back off, Keith? I’m doing that, don’t you see?”

“Enough!” Allura shouted. “Enough of this act, we know you’re not Lance! But, the Beast.”

Hearing this, Lance glared at Allura. He stopped talking and even moving. But then he relaxed. “So you already know. Wow, it took you less than I expected.”

“State your purpose.”

“It’s not obvious, Princess? I want that!” Lance pointed to the Red Lion. “Lion’s Quintessence. I need it.”

“Oh, yeah?” Said Pidge.

“I swear,” said Lance, then sighed. “But apparently the power of the Red Lion is stronger than mine… what I feared.” He said to himself. “I’m sorry.” Then, Lance pressed the Crystal so hard that it started cracking, while a purple energy began to emanate from his body.

Keith knew that something bad was about to happen.

“Since I cannot take the Lion’s Quintessence… I’ll have to take yours.”

By saying this, the Crystal broke. Lance launched himself at Pidge with such a powerful impulse, and an inhuman speed, that no one would’ve been able to stop him. Pidge could’ve never stopped Lance from attacking her. But Keith knew that Lance would. No. Keith knew _The Beast_ would. So when the Beast launched towards Pidge, Keith threw his sword with all his strength, which resulted in Lance’s body being pierced by the weapon, and falling a few meters away from the Paladin.

Silence took over the place. Pidge was in shock. Allura was shocked. Just like Shiro. Hunk looked at Keith. He wanted to run towards Lance’s body, which was bleeding from his wound where the sword was stuck. But Keith gave a serious look, which meant he shouldn’t move.

Then Lance’s body moved. The purple energy reappeared and Lance stood up. He removed the sword and threw it away. A voice came from him, but it wasn’t his. It was a sinister voice, deeper and raspy. A much ancient voice.

“Fine… That’s how it will be.”

Again, Lance charged forward fast. But it wasn’t towards Pidge, but towards Keith, who, not having his sword, received a powerful impact. At that time Hunk no longer hesitated. His Bayard activated his gun and he shot Lance. He evaded the shots easily, and approached to Hunk. Lance kicked him in the face, which threw Hunk to the wall. Pidge and Allura fight him hand in hand with their Bayards, but he dodged them. With a quick movement, Lance grabbed both of them by the arm and jumped. His impulse was such that he threw them and made them hit the ceiling. Allura grabbed Pidge and held on with the Bayard’s lasso. Keith and Hunk held them before falling.

Then Shiro attacked Lance with his mechanical arm. Lance tried to block it with his own arm, but Shiro turned out to be stronger, what resulted in Lance’s arm breaking. The scream of pain he threw sounded human. It was Lance. But then the shout turned into a fierce roar, the Beast. With his other arm he hold Shiro by the neck, lifted him, spun him and smashed him on the floor. The Beast raised his leg to step on Shiro, but Keith lunged at him.

Both rolled on the floor. But before Keith could get up, the Beast took Keith from his temples and roared. Keith shouted.

What happened next was only experienced by Keith.

….

Keith opened his eyes. He was standing in a dark place. There were some stars in the sky, and under his feet there seemed to be water. There was no light, except for a red light emanating from Keith. Then he heard a growl. He noticed movement behind him and turned around. A huge four-legged creature stalked him. A purple glow emanated from the creature, but its skin was still dark. The creature, which resembled a reptile, surrounded Keith as it snarled at him. Keith wanted to take his weapon, but he didn’t have it. Then the creature mocked him, and as he spoke, Keith recognized his grave voice.

“You have no weapons here… nor can you ask for help.”

“Let me guess. You are the Beast.”

“One… of many titles. But it is correct. It’s a pleasure.” He spoke slowly. Always dragged the last Word. He kept turning around Keith. But he didn’t dare to move. He didn’t know where he was, or how he had gotten there, but without a doubt, he was at the mercy of the Beast. He had to act with caution.

“Where is Lance? What did you do with him?”

“Do you accuse me of hurting him?” The Beast asked.

“Of course. We know that you are a creature that was sheltered in the Crystals of Quintessence. You poisoned Lance’s mind and forced him to go down alone to the Galra base. You killed him.”

“But what terrible accusations do you make me?” The Beast finally stopped moving. “I did nothing of that.”

“Of course yes! Lance would’ve never done something like that if it weren’t for you! I’ll ask you one last time, where is he?”

The Beast laughed. “You’re very reckless, Keith Kogane… I can feel the Galra blood flowing through your veins.”

Keith froze. “How do you-?”

“-Do I know? Thanks to Lance. I’m attached to him, to his mind. I’ve seen all his memories. I know every fiber of his being. I know everything he knows. And that’s why I can tell you, you are wrong Keith. I didn’t order Lance to come to me, nor did I forced him down to Orion Prime. He did it of his own volition.”

“Impossible, why would he?”

“To save me.” Keith stopped. He Didnt understand. “I am the last of my kind. The last of a powerful species, which succumbed to the greed of Zarkon. I was one of the few who acquired the ability to transform into energy. I cannot die, but I’m not able to stay in my physical form by myself. The last time I did it, centuries ago, was when I destroyed the base where they extinguished us. You were there, Keith. You saw the planetoid. You saw Orion Prime. But ending with my enemies weakened me, and I had to take refuge in the Crystals.”

“And what about Lance?”

“I was sleeping, so to speak, when Kyrek started digging the rock. He woke me up, and I planned to us his Quintessence to free myself… but then Lance arrived.”

A cloak opened up beside Keith, and he witnessed the duel between Lance and Kyrek. As if it were happening at that moment.

“Despite not being Galra, Lance won. He’s special Keith, and you know it. That’s why I decided that he would be a perfect carrier. And all I did was enter to his mind and ask him for help. I needed to be taken out of there. And Lance promised to do it, but he couldn’t.”

Keith saw the moment when he and the other Paladins arrived by Lance, and then Kyrek blew up the whole place, taking the Crystals with him.

“If I stayed with the Galra, they would’ve finished with me. I needed to leave, so I went back to ask for help, to the only one who could help me.” The Beast stopped a moment. “Unfortunately, I didn’t know we were going to die.”

The image changed, and Keith witnessed Lance’s last moments. By killing Kyrek, falling badly wounded, and speaking through his communicator. Keith’s heart ached again, when he heard Lance say, “I’m scared.”

“At that moment, if I lost him, I was condemned too.” Said the Beast. “So I did what I had to do.”

In the image, the Crystals of Dark Quintessence were broken and a smoke representation of the Beast covered Lance in its entirety. Lance gasped. The Beast picked him up and then the base blow up.

The image disappeared and a tear fell down Keith’s cheek. “You saved him.”

“Yes, but doing so I spent a lot of my energy. What little I had left, I decided to give it to lance, to keep him alive.”

In the image, Lance was unconscious, surrounded by a purple mist.

“I thought it would be another century, before we could recover… but then you arrived.”

In the image, the Castle landed on Orion Prime.

“It was now or never. Lance was very weak, almost dead, you would never find him. But I could save him.”

“You are what went through the Castle. You entered with him.”

“And here we are.” The Beast smiled.

The image next to him disappeared. Keith was confused. Just a few minutes ago, Keith believed that the Beast was a cruel and dangerous creature. And it was dangerous, but right now, it was thanks to the Beast that Lance was alive. That was good. But the Beast had almost killed his friends. That showed he was dangerous. But if he were so evil, why did he tell Keith all this? He knew he shouldn’t let his guard down or let himself be distracted.

“You haven’t answered my question yet. Where is Lance?”

The Beast didn’t answer immediately. He stood in front of Keith and laid one of his legs on the ground. When he lifted it, Lance’s body emerged from the floor. It was covered by a kind of dark branches, which emanated a purple light. He was alive, but unconscious.

“What are you doing to him?” Keith asked, worried.

“He and I are united. Physically, and spiritually. I am the only thing that keeps him alive. And he is the only thing that allows me to move freely. Right now, Keith, he and I are _One…_ ”

Keith understood what the Beast meant: no matter what he wanted to do, or what the Paladins wished to do with him, he wouldn’t leave Lance’s body so easily. But not only should it be possible, it was necessary. They had to save Lance.

“I know what you think, Keith,” he said, as if reading his thoughts. “If I loosen now of Lance, I would return to my vegetative state. But that would condemn Lance to the same fate. You don’t want that, do you?”

“Of course not.” Said Keith. He felt worried, anxious, and increasingly tired, but remained neutral in front of the Beast. He wouldn’t reveal signs of weakness. “But I can’t let you escape either.”

The Beast mocked him. “Leave me? You say it as if you were even capable of facing me.” The Beast thought for a few seconds. “Sorry, Keith. Here ends our game.” The Beast submerged Lance again, and Keith had to resist the urge to run towards him. “You’re special, Keith. Your Galra blood is very valuable to me. But Lance’s, it’s much better.”

Keith wouldn’t forget that. Suddenly he felt very sleepy. “We will see each other again, Paladin.”

That said, Keith fell unconscious.

…

…

…

He woke up suddenly. He was on a couch in the break room. The others were around him.

“Keith?” Shiro approached. “Are you okay?”

Keith got up. He staggered, but stood up. “What happened? Where is the Beast?”

“Escaped.” Said Pidge. She looked annoyed.

“How?”

“When you attacked him, “Shiro said, “The Beast grabbed you by the head. He roared at you, and you screamed. Then you fainted, and the Beast fled. We chased him through the castle, but when we reached the bridge, he turned into energy again and went through the Castle. It left us immobilized several minutes, without power, or navigation system. The lights came back a few seconds ago. Do you feel good?”

What had Keith experienced then? A vision? Did he really talk to the Beast, or was it just an illusion? If he fainted, it could’ve been a dream. But it didn’t feel like a dream.

“No, I don’t know. I’m fine.”

“And, what do we do now?” Asked Hunk.

Allura sighed exhausted. “I do not know. I hoped to catch the Beast, and extract it from Lance’s body.”

“Like the parasite that it is.” Said Pidge.

“It’s more than that.” Said Keith. “The Beast isn’t only in his body, he joined him. They now share the same Quintessence. If we take it away… Lance could die.”

They kept silent. Until Keith had an Idea.

“Coran, does the navigation system work?”

“It shouldn’t be long, do you want to go somewhere?”

“Yes. Allura, you sad there were two planets exactly the same, right? Of Quintessence”

“Orion Prime,” she confirmed, “and Alpha Prime, but there’s no information about the second planet. Maybe it’s already destroyed too.”

“Even so. We went to Orion Prime, and we found the Beast. What if we go to Alpha Prime and found the way to defeat it? I know it’s risky. But if everything you told us is true, then there could be an antithesis to the Beast.”

They looked at each other.

“We’ve already flown blind once,” said Hunk, “and we found something very big.”

“I don’t think there’s anything to lose.” Said Pidge. “Besides, we don’t know where the Beast went. Alpha Prime is a good start.”

“Dark Quintessence,” Shiro said, “and Luminous Quintessence.”

And with that, everyone voted in favor.

Allura turned. “Coran, is the Castle capable to travel?”

“It won’t take long, Princess.”

“Good.” Allura sighed. “Then let’s go there.”

 


	16. Alpha Prime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins head now to Alpha Prime, in order to find something that can help them to defeat the Beast. But before, Keith and Pidge have a talk, which might reveal something interesting about Lance and the Beast.

**Chapter 16:**

**“Alpha Prime”**

Keith told to the others his strange vision about the Beast. He told them in detail everything he said to him, despite that, in fact, the Beast had fled when he was unconscious. Allura did not rule out the possibility that Keith had managed to connect spiritually with Lance and the Beast, so all that dialogue could have happened in a matter of seconds. However, at the moment the issue was no longer discussed. They had to prepare to reach their new destination.

With his armor on, and his determination more solid than ever, Keith waited in his room for the Castle to reach Alpha Prime. The planet opposite to Orion Prime. He was sitting on his bed, holding the Marmora Blade dagger. He studied every detail of it, turned it, held it carefully, and did the same process again. Then the door opened and Pidge stuck her head out.

“May I come in?” She asked.

"Sure." Keith looked at her curiously. He and Pidge were friends, but their relationship was not very close. It hadn't been, until these last days, and it hadn't been the best.

In fact, what had happened most among them were discussions, all related to Lance. And when he returned, when they thought he had recovered, he and Pidge reconciled. Even so, Keith was surprised to see her enter his room. Her rigid posture, eyes lowered, her hands clasped and her fingers restless. She was worried.

“May I sit down?” She pointed to a space next to Keith.

"Yes, of course." Keith moved to allow her to sit down. She did, but remained silent for a few seconds. "Is everything alright? You… you look worried.” Keith said, almost unsure of saying that. Pidge relaxed her body and sighed.

"Actually, I'm insecure."

“About what? The planet?”

Pidge settled with her legs crossed. "Not just that. I’ve been analyzing our options. I think we are risking everything when traveling to an unknown planet. Risking it, because we don't know if we are going to find something equal or worse to the Beast, or if we are going to find something even, and what if it is a trap? And if we run into the Beast, or the Galra, or something worse? We are risking Voltron, and all that that implies.”

Keith closed his eyes. He had been thinking exactly the same all this time.

“I know it's not easy. I know it could be dangerous. But I can't think of something better.”

"I know," she said, like giving up. "Me neither. I haven’t been able to decipher another solution to our problem. Have you thought about Lance?”

Pidge finally looked up.

“What do you mean?”

"Do you think we can save him?"

Keith knew that look. She felt fear. “Yes. I know we are going to do it.”

"But what if we don’t? What if the Beast already dominated him? What if he already consumed all his Quintessence?

“No. I don't think so,” Keith said, almost without believing himself. “When I talked to the Beast, he assured me that he wasn't going to separate from him. I know he is consuming it, but we still have time.

“What assures it?”

Keith didn't answer right away. “It's what I choose to believe.”

Pidge looked down again. "That leads me to another theory."

“Which one?”

"The Beast said something about Lance, right?”

"He said many things."

“You know what I mean.”

Keith remembered, to know what she was talking about. And he remembered very well. “The Beast said, that Lance's blood was more valuable than mine.”

“Exactly, haven't you wondered what he means? Why lance?”

Keith was silent, intrigued.

“Haven't you wondered why he chose a human rather than a Galra? Of all of us, why him?”

Keith didn't know the answer. "Tell me what you have in mind."

"I have studied ourselves. Hunk and I are only human beings. Shiro has Galra sorcery. Allura and Coran are Alteans. The three are even better candidates to carry such power and not suffer damage. But what if those are not its standards? Why do you think he said your blood was valuable?”

"I'm half Galra..." Keith understood.

“You have DNA of two species. What if Lance has it too?”

“How? Of what? Why wouldn't he tell us?”

"Probably not even he would know." Pidge took a holographic screen from her belt. "These are the results of a blood sample from Lance, months before he found the Beast. Not much to see, honestly. But these.” Pidge slipped her finger. “These are the results of Lance's blood days ago. You see this? We thought they were remains of the Crystal of Quintessence. They are so small that they are almost insignificant, but there they are. What if they are really cells of another DNA? Another type of blood that the Beast managed to activate. If what you say is true, and the Beast joined the Quintessence of Lance, it is equivalent to joining him at the cellular level. Because he knew he could.”

Keith was stunned. He had never wondered why the Beast had taken Lance. Not even when the Beast told him he understood. Keith thought it had been a coincidence. An accident, even the work of destiny. But he never thought it had to do with his blood. In that case, Keith could also have become the bearer of the Beast, and so the question arose: What kind of DNA could Lance carry deep inside? One so distant and tiny, that only the Beast could find.

"Do the others know?" Asked Keith, now upset.

“No. I only told you.”

“Why?”

"I don't think it's time. I haven’t proven this theory, and if true, without Lance it would never be possible to find out more. In addition, this information directly affects him. And I think it's you who must decide.”

“What? Why I?”

"Do you really want me to answer?" Pidge raised an eyebrow. But Keith didn't understand. "I don't forget how you got on the day... the day we lost Lance. I suffered, Hunk suffered. But you, you crumbled. And when he came back I noticed how much you were worried about him. You care about him, Keith. You care, and I don't know exactly how much. Maybe you don't even know it. But it is an unquestionable fact.” She stopped a few seconds. “Besides, you are the only one who has come into direct contact with the Beast. I think you have more experience and that's why I decided to talk to you first.”

Keith was silent. He dared not confirm what Pidge had said. But he also didn't feel able to deny it. Lance was unique, Keith could tell. He was very eloquent, sometimes self-centered, and always sought to overcome him, even ruining a plan for doing things his own way. But he was also sweet, attentive, and always willing to help others. Even to Keith. Even when Keith challenged him, even when he criticized him, even when he irritated him. In spite of everything, Lance was always there for him, in a unique way. Different even to Shiro. What was it then? Gratitude? A debt? Remorse? Or maybe an emotion that Keith didn't really know.

Allura's voice through the communicator interrupted them. “ _Paladins, please report on the bridge... We have arrived.”_

Keith looked at Pidge. He put all those doubts aside. "We'll tell the others. But not before getting answers.”

Pidge nodded. Then they left the room.

...

Orion Prime was a devastated place, both over time and the Galra. The planet was no longer a planet, but a floating rock unable to sustain any life. The Paladins assumed that their counterpart, Alpha, would be in the same conditions. However, it wasn’t. When everyone entered, and looked through the window, they found a huge white sphere floating in space. The glow emanated from the planet itself, and even illuminated the Castle. There was no doubt that it was Alpha Prime. They wondered if, perhaps, at the time, Orion Prime would look so beautiful.

Hunk broke the silence. “I think, I speak for everyone when I say I didn't expect this.” He was amazed. And not only him. Pidge looked incredulous. Keith was surprised, but Allura watched with fear.

"We must not be fooled. Coran, stop the Castle.”

“Yes, princess.”

The Castle stopped moving. Even the Paladins stood still. As if they were waiting for the Planet to move, shut down, or even attack them. But nothing happened.

"So..." Hunk spoke again. "What do we do?"

"Get answers," Keith said. "We have to go down."

"Just like that?"

Keith did not answer. He just turned around, and addressed his Lion. Pidge behind him. Hunk left behind her. And Allura looked at Shiro first for strength. They both nodded, and she went to board her Lion.

...

" _Keep your eyes wide_ ," Shiro said through the communicator. “ _At the first sign of danger, get out of there."_

The Lions left the Castle. They stopped at the bridge level.

"You don't have to say it twice!" Said Hunk.

" _Princess, are you sure you don't want us to go with you?_ " Asked Coran.

Allura sighed. “ _I don't want to risk the Castle. Besides, you can take care of our backs_.” She smiled.

“Are you ready all?” Asked Keith. Everyone nodded. He inhaled and exhaled. “Then let’s go.”

The Black Lion advanced. Red later. Green and yellow.

" _Whatever happens_ ," Shiro said. " _Don't let it enter your minds. You must stand firm_.”

“We will.”

_“If you ne--”_

The communication was suddenly cut off.

"Shiro?" Hello? Shiro, can you hear me?”

“Coran?” Allura called. “There is no answer.”

"Okay," Keith said. "There's no turning back."

As they approached the planet, the light became clear, and a dense layer of fog appeared on the surface. They looked like clouds, but they were too dense, and they were moving. The Lions had no problem crossing the nebulous barrier, however, as they descended they discovered that the cloud layer did not decrease, but remained so dense that it didn’t allowed the visibility of the planet's surface.

"I see absolutely nothing!" Said Hunk. "Not even my Lion can."

"The sensors are failing," said Pidge, "but the surface is not far."

"Careful," Keith warned. The Lions descended slowly, until suddenly they came across the ground.

Once on land, they remained in their Lions. All they could see was white fog. There was light everywhere, but there seemed to be no sun.

“Pidge?” Allura called. “Can you detect something?”

"Absolutely nothing," she replied. "It seems we are in the middle of nowhere. And the Castle remains without communication.”

"What about the atmosphere?"

"I'll say it again. I detect nothing.”

The conversation ended there. A minute passed. Two. Three. Five. Hunk even started making noises with his mouth, and touching his knees to the beat of a song that only he imagined.

"Are we staying here until tomorrow? Or something like that?”

No one answered the joke. But Keith got up from his seat. "We have to get out.”

When he went down, again he ran into the fog. But it was strange, because he could clearly see his friends, and the Lions. But he couldn't see beyond, he couldn't even see the ground under his feet.

“Allura?” He looked at her, once she came down too. "Do you have any idea what’s happening here?"

"Actually, I think so." Allura bent down and touched the surface. When she raised her hand, he discovered gray dust. “I think this fog is an illusion. A wrap”

"How do we remove it?"

“Using our own Quintessence. Everyone, bow down and put your hands on the floor.” They obeyed. “Close your eyes and focus. Think of the fog like a mask, and think of making it disappear.”

They stayed seconds like that. Each one meditated, in his own way, in order that Allura stipulated. They concentrated, until suddenly they felt a kind of jolt. When they opened their eyes they were amazed and speechless.

The fog was gone, so a huge land was now distinguishable. There was a river and a waterfall in the distance. Trees of different shape and size. Big and small rocks. Beyond there were mountains. There was pasture under their feet. But everything, absolutely everything was white and emanated light. The sky, however, was dark, and the stars looked perfect. It was as if in the sky it was night, and on the earth it was day.

Hunk broke the silence again. "May I be the first to say... _Wow_?"

The others nodded, still looking at the strange landscape.

"How could you not detect this, Pidge?" Asked Allura.

“I do not know. I am amazed, and at the same time missed. I mean, look at those trees, and that waterfall. They belong to completely different natural environments!”

Keith forced himself back to reality. "Very well, it's time to look for answers."

"What kind of answers can we find in a place like this?"

"There must be some," he said, and began to walk.

The others did the same. However, the fog reappeared slowly. And when they least realized, they had separated.

“Hey!” Keith called, when he noticed they were no longer behind him. “Where did you go?”

Hunk replied through the communicator. " _You left me walking alone!_ "

“ _Of course not!”_ Said Pidge. " _You split up_."

" _Paladins_ ," said Allura, " _keep calm. Remember that we are not in a normal situation. We must act with caution.”_

"I agree," Keith said. "Keep moving forward. If you find something, call our attention.”

Keith did not take long to reach a space where bushes and trees surrounded a pond. It quite resembled an oasis in the middle of the desert. Keith stopped and looked around in frustration. Pidge was right, where could he find answers in such a place? First he would have to look for some trace of civilization, or living beings, at least. It was then that he noticed that there were no birds, no insects, no mammals, and no fish. There was no breeze. He didn't feel hot or cold. There was no noise either, except the one he emitted while walking.

Just when he thought about returning, he tripped over Hunk.

“Ah!” He shouted. “Oh, Keith! There you are.”

"“Hunk? Where did you come from?”

“I came from over there. Although I thought you went there.” Hunk pointed to a direction, just from where Pidge walked. She also looked confused, and looked back several times.

"You weren’t over there?"

“What?” Keith and Hunk asked at the same time.

Allura tripped over them. She also looked confused.

“Okay!” Said Hunk. "I definitely don't understand anything anymore!"

"Do we walked in circles?" Asked Pidge.

"I don't think so," Allura said. "Um, well, maybe. I do not know!”

"It could’ve been the fog," Hunk said. "Where did it bring us? Where are the Lions?”

Keith turned to the strange oasis. "Maybe this is where there are answers."

Keith approached the water and bowed. The water was the only thing that didn't seem to be white. But he backed away immediately, when a familiar growl echoed in the place. The Paladins detected movement behind the trees just in front of them. A large creature moved and growled at them. When it stopped, it spread huge wings.

“Get back!” Keith took his Bayard and formed his sword.

All he could do was lift his arm, because the creature emerged from its hiding place and launched itself towards the Paladins. Blinding them completely, and leaving them unconscious.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A tragedy had happened to me. I had already written half chapter, when suddenly my external device disappears, where I keep the Fanfics. Seriously, I felt devastated and suffered a lot. For everything I had lost, and what I would have to rewrite. And just two days ago it reappeared. I felt grateful, because I would not have to rewrite everything, because I recovered the other works, and finally I had an excuse to finish the chapter.


	17. The White Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins meet face to face with a new creature that can finally explain the Beast's origin.

 

 

...

“Keith… Wake up…”

Keith opened his eyes suddenly. He stood up quickly, ready to attack. He took his Bayard, but a hand grabbed him by his arm.

“Keith, wait!” It as Pidge. “Calm down.”

Keith relaxed just a little. Behind her was Hunk, helping Allura to stand up too. He looked around, not sure where he was or how he got there. In front of them, there was a large lake. It seemed to be the same one they found before they passed out, but it looked much bigger. Around him, there was still white fog, but now they were surrounded by trees. It looked like if they had been transported to the center of a forest. The ground, the plants, the leaves, everything was still shining in a whitish color, although now it was opaque, so it was easier to look around. Keith looked back at his friends, just as confused as he. He looked in the other direction and didn't see the Lions anywhere.

Just when he was about to speak, they heard dried branches breaking, and movement between the trees beside them. They heard the same growl as before, and from the shadows, a white creature emerged. It resembled a reptile, or rather a dragon. It had a long tail and two folded wings, in addition to its four legs. It took two steps out of its hiding place and stopped. Its eyes were white, with a blue pupil almost indistinguishable. Each of its scales shone at will. Unlike the Beast, as Keith remembered in his vision, this creature was much smaller, even smaller than the Lions, but still, he did not trust.

As soon as the creature peeked, the Paladins approached each other, took their Bayards and activated their shields. They were alert to any possible attack. Keith was more than ready to fight. But it was not necessary. The white creature did not growl again. Once out of its hiding place, it moved slowly towards the water, still looking at them, until it stopped right on the shore. The Paladins assumed that perhaps it would submerge, but in reality, the creature took a step on the water, and then another, and then another. The creature walked on water. It advanced several steps, then turned to the Paladins, sat down and closed its eyes.

The Paladins could not be more confused. They didn’t understand if that creature was a living being native to the planet, or if it was an illusion. Keith saw the creature and found several similarities with the Beast, but they were not the same. Could it be a test? Maybe the animal was a being of extreme intelligence or wisdom and would be waiting for something. Keith saw the water again, which still did not shine, everything except the water shone. Keith sensed that that was the key. He approached the shore without lowering his guard.

"What are you doing, Keith?" Asked Hunk.

"I'm not sure..." he admitted.

Keith leaned down and brought his face to the water. He could see his reflection perfectly. He looked up at the white creature, which was still motionless and his eyes closed on the water. Keith hesitated, but laid his hand on the water, just touching the surface and closed his eyes. Almost instantly, he managed to hear hundreds of voices in his mind. He withdrew his hand immediately but finished understanding.

“Alura... it needs help.”

“Excuse me?”

"The water," said Keith, "I don't know what it is, but there is something that obstructs it... and you can release it.”

Allura wasn't sure what it meant, but she nodded and approached. Like Keith, she leaned down and touched the water with her palm. The same feeling invaded her, but she remained that way.

“You're right. This is not a normal lake, it is something else.”

Allura looked up at the creature. She took a deep breath and put both hands on the water. She closed her eyes and immediately her palms began to glow. A dark spot was distinguished on the water, but Allura's powers made it disappear. At that moment, the creature opened its eyes, spread its wings and gave a strong flutter. The great lake emitted a brightness as intense as when they had just landed on the planet. The mist around them was suddenly absorbed by this new light and surrounded the creature until it almost disappeared, and suddenly, just where it was before, there was now a woman with long white hair. Her skin, almost as white as snow, emitted a strange blue glow. Her eyes were the same as those of the creature, and her long and baggy clothes had their movement contradicting gravity. She walked on the water, without getting wet, until she was close to the Paladins.

Her voice, as sweet and deep as any other, was what broke the silence. “Greetings, Paladins of Voltron. Welcome to Alpha Prime.” The woman bowed. The Paladins, as captivated as they were, had to respond the same. “I sincerely hope that this alternate form is not an inconvenience for you. I decided to transform myself, according to your characteristics.” She smiled.

“Greetings,” said Allura. "I am Princess Allura of Altea. If you allow me to ask, who are you?”

“I..." She stopped. “I have received many titles," the phrase became familiar to Keith, “I can introduce myself as... the Beast...” She looked at them one by one. “But judging by your reaction, it is not the first time you hear that name.” She raised her head. “Why have you come here, Paladins of Voltron?”

Keith stepped forward. "My lady," he said almost without thinking, "we are here because of... because of a brother of yours."

She raised an eyebrow. “Brother?”

Pidge spoke. "Well, it's a way of calling him. You see, a friend of ours is in danger. We believe that his mind is being controlled by an ancient creature that controls the Quintessence. When we discovered it, it presented himself as The Beast.”

The woman looked closely at Pidge. "May I know where you found him?"

“At Orion Prime," Keith said, "in what's left of it."

The woman looked surprised, or perhaps relieved. "So he lives..." she said quietly.

"Yes," said Keith, "he lives, but at the expense of our friend. He's consuming his life... and we're here because we want to find a way to stop that monster.”

The woman looked down and smiled. "It's not a monster..." The woman raised her arm over the water and extended her hand, and in the water a whirlpool formed, which then began to show images of what she described, just as the Beast did in Keith’s vision. “A long time ago, our species was prosperous and fair. We had the unique and unparalleled ability to manipulate the Quintessence at will: to mold it, solidify it, transfer it, and transform it... for which we also had the duty to protect it. As the laws of the universe stipulate, our planets were opposites: Alpha, and Orion Prime, but both necessary to maintain balance. And as with all great power, some wanted it for evil. For that reason, _The Beast_ appeared.

In the water, the image of a winged beast formed. His humanoid figure was surrounded by a white light, with flashes of blue, violet and gold. He roared upward while fluttering. The woman continued.

"The Beast was the name of our protector. A single specimen capable of manipulating the Luminous Quintessence and the Dark Quintessence at the same time. Our defender. To us, a symbol of worth and power. An honor. For the other species, a warning. Throughout an era, our two species thrived... until Zarkon arrived.”

In the water, Galra ships appeared and then switched to planets devastated by war.

“The formation of the Galra Empire devastated the lives of innumerable living beings. We, as protectors of the Quintessence, were to protect ourselves, and the others. And so the Beast faced Zarkon. We thought that everything would end with our intervention... but it only got worse. The _Golden Beast_ , as it was later considered, was defeated, because the Galra resorted to Quintessence and Sorcery... the Beast fell... and our species with it.”

The woman withdrew her hand, and the water returned to normal.

“Zarkon tried to seize our powers, but it was impossible. For that reason, he decided to exterminate us all. Our two species, the Alpha and the Orion, were almost destroyed, and in our last attempt to survive we adopted the role of the Beast. Of course, then there were two: The _White Beast_ and The _Dark Beast_. A decade of conflict ended by extinguishing our species. The Alphas were almost extinct, and the planet Orion was destroyed.” She looked at the Paladins. “I am the last of the Alpha species, so I became the White Beast. And my ‘brother’, as you called him, is the last of the Orion species... he is the Dark Beast.”

"So he is looking for justice?" Asked Hunk.

"He would’ve done it before, but the war upset the Dark Beast's mind, and now it only seeks the destruction, and restoration of its planet, just as I did with mine."

“Excuse me?” He asked again. “What do you mean by restoring your planet?”

“Look around. Everything you see was once destroyed and withered. To safeguard my legacy, I joined in _Synchrony_ to the dead core of Alpha Prime... but that process was not simple, and it ended the whole life of it...” She stopped. No one could assure it, but she seemed sad.

"So you mean," said Allura, "That the whole planet is supported by you."

“That is correct. Although it is no longer able to host any kind of life.”

"Then you didn't need help," Keith said. He was meaning about the water, "Do you?"

“As soon as you entered the atmosphere, I could feel an incredible level of Quintessence approaching, only I didn't know if it came from your Lions, or if it came from you. That's why I tested you. Now I understand that in reality, like me, you are in Synchrony.”

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Pidge, raising her hand.

“The Synchrony is a unique and exclusive process of the Quintessence bearers. It is a process in which two bodies come together and become one. Thus they connect their minds and become a single being. That way I could save my planet. But we are not here to talk about that... I suppose you want to stop the Dark Beast.”

"I fear so," said Allura, "and I suppose you can't help us."

"I can't leave the planet. If I did, Alpha Prime would die forever. That would condemn my species, not even I would survive. And I can't face my opposite of Orion Prime either. But there is something I can do.”

The woman, The White Beast, stepped to her right, and a stone path emerged from the water. A few meters away, a trail of light began to emerge from the water.

“This lake is a way to connect with the Quintessence of other living beings. It can find any mind, anywhere in the universe. If you wish, you can use it to search for your friend's mind.”

"What would that do?" Asked Keith, almost annoyed.

"You can find out if he lives, you can find out his whereabouts, and maybe find out how to save him... Keith Kogane. Go ahead.”

He was a little surprised. Because she knew his name, and because it was he who would enter that strange portal, somehow. He looked at his friends, expecting objections, but everyone agreed, so he reluctantly approached the water and advanced along the path to the light trail.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"You'll look for your friend. While your body stays here, your essence will travel through a timeless world. The place is not hostile, but if you don't concentrate enough, you could get lost forever.”

"And how will I find Lance?"

"Say his name..." That was all she said. Then she backed away.

Keith looked back at his teammates for support. But he saw their faces and understood that they not only believed in him and supported him, they also placed their hopes on him. They trusted him, and although the reality was that it scared him, it also gave him the courage he needed to get started. He reached the end of the road and saw the trail of light emerge from the water. He took a deep breath. He clenched his fists. Then he jumped and fell into the water.

...

...

...


	18. Why do you want to save me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith looks for Lance in a strange place. Finally, after such a long time, he finds him and talks to him. They can still save him, but they must hurry before the Dark Beast reaches its final form. Also, Pidge and Keith made a question about Lance.

 

Keith opened his eyes. He took a deep breath and let it out. He didn't remember falling into the water but a sensation similar to a tug and a jolt. He looked around and the environment seemed extremely familiar: he was in a dark place, illuminated only by stars spread in the vast sky, the ground seemed to be covered with water. Basically, it was the same place where he had the vision with the Dark Beast, as it now turned out to be called, and like that time, a red aura emanated from Keith. He turned around looking for his friends, or whatever, but he was completely alone. There was no road, nor did there seem to be a limit in that strange land. And although he knew it would be useless, he raised his voice.

“Hello?” Of course, he got no answer, only the echo of his voice. “Let's see, what did she say?” He asked himself. «Say his name» is what the woman had said, which turns out to be called White Beast.

“L-Lance?" He said hesitantly. His voice even broke and Keith felt silly. "How stupid," he said softly. Finally, he decided and shouted his name. “Lance!” He waited. He looked around but received no response. Keith started walking. “Lance! I'm Keith! Are you here?”

The place where he was didn’t seem to change, so Keith wasn’t sure if he was going somewhere, or if everything was an illusion and nothing had really moved. He curled his hands over his mouth so that his voice was louder. “Lance!” He called him, but there was no answer again. Keith was frustrated because he didn't like the idea of being trapped in that strange world forever. He began to believe that perhaps the White Beast was also treacherous, and had lied to them about everything. He almost shouted again, when he suddenly saw a blue light on the horizon. A very clear, bright blue light, perched on the edge of the world between sky and earth.

“Lance?” Keith called him again. The light answered his call with a blink and a jingle, and that was when Keith understood that he had found him. There was hope. “Lance!!” He ran to the light with a smile on his face. With each step he took the light seemed to increase in size, and it meant he was getting closer. The light grew more and more until suddenly it spread all over the place, it was so intense that Keith had to stop and cover his eyes.

When he looked again the darkness returned. But now, right in front of him, there was Lance. He was downcast on the floor on his flexed legs. An aura of light also emanated from his body, in his case it was blue, but its brightness was less. Dark roots with a slight violet glow emerged from the ground where Lance was. Thorny roots that had grown around him and over his body, trapping his legs, his arms, his torso, and his neck. They didn't seem to be forcing him in any way, they had just adjusted to his motionless body. His eyes were open, but he didn't look at anything.

“Lance!” Keith knelt immediately and tried to remove the roots, but was not even able to move them. “Lance! Answer me!” Keith looked for his knife, or his Bayard, but discovered that he didn’t have any of his two weapons. He could only try to remove the roots with his own strength. He took one of his chests and pulled it hard, but only got hurt with one of his thorns, and the root clung even more to his still body.

“Lance! Please!” Keith shook Lance, but he didn't react. “Wake up!!” He shouted desperately. He took Lance's head with his hands and lifted it. “Lance!!! Please wake up…”

Lance's lost eyes moved. His eyelids closed and when he opened them again, he looked at Keith directly. He blinked once more. And reacted.

"Keith? Is that you?”

Keith smiled in relief. “Lance!” Without thinking, or maybe yes, he hugged Lance very tightly. He had finally found him. To the real him.

Lance opened his eyes as much as he could. Weakly, he wanted to move his arms to hug Keith, but the roots didn't allow him. “Keith... What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

Keith separated. "I don't even know where to start... but I came for you. U-uh, can you walk? You can come with me? Come on, get up! We must go!”

Keith got up and insisted Lance do the same, but he just looked sad and didn't move. Not even when Keith tried to lift him.

“Keith... I can't.”

"Uh... Of course, you can! I'll carry you!”

"Keith, I can't."

"Come on, Lance!"

"I said I can't!"

Lance shouted, but immediately his body lost energy. His body hunched, even more, the roots grew and held him even more.

“You see?” He said to Keith, looking down again. "I can't. He won't let me go... it's too late.”

“No! No, no, no! That’s not true!” Keith reached down again to look at Lance. “We can get out of this, I know you can!”

“It's not that simple," said Lance. He sighed, “And besides, it's not worth it.”

“What? Of course, it is!”

“It’s not true. You don't need me... I just make everything worse.” His body hunched over and the roots held him even more.

"Lance, please! That is not true!

"It is, Keith!" He looked at him with rage and pain, but soon those emotions disappeared. His eyes began to lose their blue glow. “You'd better go. They need you..., not me...”

"Lance." Keith didn't know what to say. "Lance, that's not true!”

"Could you stop trying?! Leave me alone! I don't want you to save me! You don't have to.”

"But I want to save you!"

“Why?!” Lance looked up again. "Why, Keith? Why do you want to save me?”

He waited. But Keith didn't know what to answer. Lance looked down in disappointment. "Sure... that’s... what I thought...”

The roots grew and held him tighter. He bowed his head and remained motionless again.

“No!” Keith shouted. He grabbed his arms and shook him. "No, no!" Don’t do this! Don’t let yourself be defeated! Lance!! I won’t let you give up like this! Answer me, damn it!!!

He didn't do it anymore. Keith raised his head again, but Lance no longer responded. The brightness of his body weakened and the roots only settled more and more.

"Lance! Lance... please don't do this..." He stopped shouting because it was useless, or maybe because Keith no longer had the strength to try. He hugged him again and tried to think of everything he knew about him. "Please don't give up. You have- you have a family waiting for you, you have friends. There are- there are beings throughout the Universe grateful to you. You are a great Paladin, you are a great friend, you are... you are very strong, Lance. More than you think.” Keith rested his head on Lance's shoulder and held him tighter. “You are very brave as well. You are someone funny. Lance, you have a great heart. Always willing to give everything for others. You inspire us all... Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Coran and Allura too... and me. Lance, I want to save you because... because... you are important to me.”

Keith closed his eyes. A tear rolled down his cheek and managed to fall to the liquid floor. Lance managed to hear the sound of the tear as it fell, and a sensation ran through his body.

Lance's body began to glow brightly. Keith noticed it and was going to release him, but when he was about to do it, Lance managed to break the roots that held his arms without difficulty and held Keith with an even stronger hug. When he released him, Lance's face had regained the life he was losing, although he was crying he had a huge smile on his face and Keith was also happy.

"Welcome back," Keith said, rubbing his eye so as not to let go of tears. Lance laughed.

"Why took you so long?"

Keith laughed too. "I'm sorry. I couldn't find you...”

And suddenly the earth shook. Keith rose instinctively and prepared for anything.

"Keith, get out of here," Lance said. "He knows you're here. You must leave as you arrived as quickly as you can.”

“No! I am not going to leave you! You must come with me!”

"I can't leave Keith! You are in my mind, but my body is still controlled by the Beast. You will have to face it to free me. There is not much time left, he is preparing to emerge-”

The ground shook harder than the last time.

"There is no time! Go away!”

"Lance, I... I'm not leaving you! Not again.”

Lance smiled at him. "You never did."

The earth shook again.

“Go away!”

"B-but I don't know where to go!"

"Go back, to where he came from...” Lance said.

The ground shook again, and this time the roots held Lance tightly. “Keith!” He shouted when the roots pulled him down and disappeared into the darkness.

“Lance!”

Suddenly, dark clouds began to swirl in front of Keith, increasing in size until suddenly two violet eyes shone. The figure became clear and Keith recognized the Dark Beast. The creature landed on its two front legs, opened its mouth and fired violet energy from within. Keith was hit, while an invisible force pulled him back. The scenario was reduced until it disappeared.

…

A white light blinded him, and then Keith fell on his back on the ground.

"Keith!" Pidge, Hunk, and Allura attacked him with questions. “Are you okay? What happened? And Lance?”

Keith rose from the ground, rubbed his eyes and saw around him. He was back in Alpha Prime, his friends were with him, and on the lake, the White Beast with the appearance of a woman was floating.

“What happened? Did you saw him?” They Asked.

"Yes... I saw him," he said, trying to calm down. "He’s alive, but there's not much time left... the Dark Beast is consuming all of his strength... We must stop him."

"Where do we find him?" Asked Hunk.

"Lance said- he said that the Dark Beast prepares to emerge, and to go back to the place where he came."

"Then, the Castle?"

"Lance found the Quintessence in the destroyed planetoid," Allura said. "Surely that's where he is."

"No," said Pidge, "Orion Prime. That's where Lance was controlled by the Quintessence and the Dark Beast. All of our problems started since we got there, although I don't know what it means to emerge.” Pidge turned to the White Beast. “Can you teach us?”

"The Dark Beast is gathering power. If what he intends is to emerge, then he prepares to replace his host with a new physical form, and if you want to stop him, you must leave immediately.”

"But we can't face him! None of our weapons can harm him, not without hurting Lance. And his powers are superior to our abilities. You must help us somehow.”

The White Beast lowered her head, almost in resignation.

"My lady," Allura said, "you have told us that your species once dedicated to protecting the Quintessence. Now that there are only two left, you must protect that power and yourselves, but not at the expense of other living beings. Unless you approve of the Dark Beast condemning another species because we both know it won't stop with Lance.”

The White Beast looked at the Paladins one by one until she arrived with Keith. She thought about it for a few more seconds, until she finally closed her eyes and spoke, "So be it." With a swift movement of her arm, she held a lock of her hair, pulled it, and an intense light surrounded her. When the light reduced, the tuft had transformed into a white sword. The White Beast stretched her arm and the sword levitated in the direction of the Paladins.

“If you want to fight Quintessence, then you must use Quintessence. Here is a sample of what my species was able to do. One last gift of Alpha Prime: Solidified Quintessence, a sword, which can only be wielded by anyone worthy of it.”

Keith was not surprised when she looked at him. Knowing that his companions would agree, he approached the sword. He stretched out his doubtful hand, but finally, he held the handle of the sword and in doing so, some very powerful energy ran through his body. The sword shone then, and suddenly it became flashes, which entered Keith.

“The sword has recognized you as its bearer, Keith Kogane. From now on, and until you decide to voluntarily separate from it, it will be your weapon against the Dark Beast. I must warn you that this weapon will not manifest itself to kill, but to save, and only when the time comes it will appear in your hand... you can leave now.”

Even with certain doubts, Keith nodded. He searched his sides for the sword but found no sign of it. Even so, he felt its power flowing inside. He looked back and discovered that there were the Lions. The white mist had finally disappeared. He looked at his teammates and smiled at them. They were finally ready to face the Dark Beast. But then Keith looked at Pidge and knew he still had to know something else. They approached the White Beast, while Hunk and Allura approached the Lions.

"One more thing," he said to the White Beast, "when I faced the Beast- I mean, the Dark Beast, he said something about Lance. He said his blood was very valuable, and mine the same. I would like to know what it means.”

The White Beast smiled at him. "We are very selective, Keith Kogane. We always remained oblivious to other species. However, we have always felt an extraordinary fascination for those of double blood. Like you, for example.”

Pidge had no doubts. “It means then, that Lance is a hybrid, just like Keith.”

"It must be right," said the White Beast. "If the Dark Beast chose your friend particularly, especially as a bearer, it is because he detected in him a force superior to that of others. Just like you, Keith Kogane. I perceive human blood and Galra blood flowing through your veins. That is why I have done my best for you. I can say, you are extraordinary.”

Keith felt uncomfortable after the comment, but they finally had the answer they wanted. More or less.

"Thank you very much for everything," Keith said.

“It was a pleasure. And if destiny allows, we will see each other again.”

Keith nodded and turned around. Pidge wasn't quite sure how to say goodbye, so she smiled at her, leaned back and ran after Keith.

"What stopped you?" Asked Hunk.

"I'll explain later," Keith said.

The Paladins boarded their Lions and looked once more at the White Beast. After a glow, she became a winged creature again. And finally, the Lions rose to the sky.

...


	19. Fears and worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small chapter, before the Final Duel, in which Keith and Shiro talk about what he's been feeling.
> 
> I mean, really, a small chapter.

 

When they visualized the Castle, they heard Shiro's voice through the communicator. “ _Guys?”_

"Here we are Shiro," said Keith. "It's good to hear from you again."

_"Sure,"_ he replied. _"What's going on?"_

_"Princess, is something wrong?"_ Asked Coran.

“Why you ask?”

_"Only two doboshes have passed since you descended to the surface, is everything all right?"_

“What?” Said Hunk. "You're kidding, right? We were there much longer!”

_"Um, excuse me, maybe I didn't count well. There must have been two doboshes with seventeen ticks. Hehe”_

The confusion was obvious. Keith thought for a moment, and he understood that time passed in a very different way in contact with the Luminous and Dark Quintessence.

_“Everything is alright?”_ Asked Shiro.

Keith sighed. “Where to start? We arrived.”

...

Once they reunited, the Paladins gathered all the information they knew. They told Shiro and Coran about the conditions of Alpha Prime, told them about the White Beast, what they now knew about the Dark Beast and that they had to return to Orion Prime to face it once and for all.

The following came from Keith. He told them about his encounter with Lance and the brief talk he had with him, although he omitted the part where they hugged. Shiro did not believe that all those negative thoughts came from Lance himself, instead, he believed that the Dark Beast highlighted all his insecurities, fears and worries, and that is how he finally managed to control him.

But what surprised others the most was Pidge's theory that the Dark Beast preferred Lance because he possessed DNA of two species. They attacked her with questions like: How do you know? What kind of DNA? Why didn't we see it before? Why didn't he tell us? But Pidge didn't know everything. And they would have no way of finding out until they recovered Lance. That said, the Paladins knew they had to recover energy before facing the Dark Beast. There would be no time to sleep, so Hunk decided to prepare some food. A short break before the fight. Also, Coran took advantage of the pause to recalibrate the shields and the power of the Castle's weapons.

Keith decided to distance himself a little from the others. He walked through the halls of the Castle without being sure where he wanted to go. He arrived at the training room but did not even enter. He came to the dining room, but he still didn't want to be there. He walked in silence until he reached Lance's room. The door opened and he entered.

He stood in the center of the room, studying it from wall to wall. The door behind him opened but he didn't bother to look.

“What's wrong?” It was Shiro. He entered and put his hand on Keith's shoulder. “Everything will be fine. You’ll see. We’ll get him back.”

“What if we don’t?”

Shiro thought about it and then sat on the floor with his legs crossed. Keith turned to see him and finally sat in front of him.

"Keith, what are you worried about? I can understand you're nervous, but I know you. It's not easy for something to intimidate you, do you want us to talk about it?”

Keith looked down. "I'm selfish, Shiro. All this, it seems that we are doing all this to save the Universe. But, if I'm being honest, I feel like I do this just because I want to save Lance. I want to save his life. I want to get him back, I want him back with us, and to things go back to the way they were. And I don't even know why. Also, what I most want is for him to return to normal, but what if he can't at the end? What would happen if, to save him, I must let him die? Sacrifice him!? I couldn’t! And I don't want either!” Keith looked at Shiro. “This is all my fault, Shiro.”

"Keith, that's not true. None of this is your fault, and even if it were, then it would be all of us, for not having prevented all this when we had the opportunity. But instead of standing idly by, we are trying our best to fix it. And I don't think you're selfish either. Maybe once you were only worried about yourself, but that already changed. Now you are concerned about the welfare of others. If not, do you think you would now be a Paladin? Besides, you are not alone. We are all with you. We all trust you, and you know why? Because you are a great leader. And a great friend too. The reality is that none of us knows how this is going to end, but rest assured that whatever happens, we will be together.”

Shiro smiled at him. And Keith responded with a hug.

"I think Lance's absence is affecting me too much," he said more calmly. "This is the third or fourth hug I give in a single day."

Shiro laughed. "For myself, it doesn't bother me."

They stood up. They were ready. Shiro held out his arm.

"We're going to rescue Lance."

Keith took it and smiled.

"We're going to rescue him."

...


End file.
